The Gene Trap
by tmd126
Summary: based on the Infested Terran OC story type, Julia Daren is a medic with minor psionic capability who is captured by the swarm, her genetic material is compatible with the swarm, but underneath the genes that seem to be perfect for assimilation, a trap lies in wait, one into which the swarm has just fallen. StarCraft belongs to blizzard. {UPDATES COMPLETED}
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone, this is my first fanfic, but it's based on a lot of others that I've read recently. it does have an interesting twist. as this is my first Published story, I would ask for any constructive feedback, but no flames. If I've missed something lore wise or grammatically wise, let me know, but do it in a polite way. **

* * *

Darkness and muffled sensation, nothing more is registered by the sleeping mind. It does not know what is going on, the sedatives ensure that. It is not aware that it is fighting back, and it does not realize that it is winning. The mind that watches this mind also does not recognize the trap that it has been led into. The seemingly perfect specimen, the one that meets all of its requirements, it does not think for a moment that it could be a trick. It does not think that evolution could outwit it. It even, in its total hubris, believes that evolution bends to its will. It believes that a single way is best, the only way to evolve. It never once consideres that it might be wrong.

Long and hard the Mind works its supposed perfection upon the creature it holds captive. It spins itself into the coding that gives the creature life, causing it to be reborn in the image of the mind itself, muscle tissue growing more dense, soft skin hardening to carapace. It approves of the work that it has done, but all the while, the trap of evolution continues to fight back, turning its own upgrades against it, keeping the most vital parts of the being that was held within the same. Even as the creature is corrupted, its body turned and twisted without knowledge or consent, the Trap changes the corruption.

The Trap would feel proud of its work, if it was not simply a group of genes that had been activated by the coming of the infection. It had hid its own presence from the virus that changed the rest of the DNA, looking like innocuous bits of genetic fluff spread out along all 23 genome pairs. After its presence was accepted, it integrated itself into the Retrovirus during its coding; passing its code to any cell that did not have it already. the Trap is activated by the presence of said virus. most of the time, the Trap is unable to stop the corruption of the being it has custody over, however, in certain cells, cells responsible for thought and control, it fights brilliantly, coding a substance which denies entrance any foreign material that attempts to pierce those cells. In the central nervous system, a brutal ground war equivalent is taking place within the Sleeper's body, as Invader and Defender trade blows within Codons and nucleotides. The brain is a hive of constant activity draining energy and material as both sides create resources that try to outwit each other constantly. Finally, Optimal Virulence is achieved, and the war stopps, the defenders victorious.

The Mind which watched the sleeper knows none of this of course, all that it knows is that at last the Perfect servant will soon awaken, and with its awakening, the war will change. The Mind believes that this change will end in its own victory, and the extinguishing of all other life, all having been bent to its own machinations. The reality, however, is that what the Mind believes would be its greatest weapon, and the first of many who would serve, each crafted in the Mind's own image, would instead be the herald of its downfall.

Distress cuts through the Mind's thoughts, the incubator which housed the first of the Servants is not responding. It's last thoughts are ones of fire and pain. Nothing from within the incubator, or its defenses, will respond. The Mind is angered by the loss of its servant, but it does not realize the final master stroke of the Trap which has defied it. It has escaped the creature whom it protected, and spread throughout the Mind's incubator, destroying its connection to the Mind. Without direction, the incubator and its guardians wither away, while the creature's mind prepared to come forth.

* * *

My mind begins to move again, I can tell because I'm hurting. I don't know what's going on, I can barely think straight, but I'm waking up. My consciousness moves closer to the surface, and I realize that I'm floating in something. I send a signal to my eyelids to open, but they refuse to respond. I try again, and I'm rewarded with a twitch, but only a very small one. I try a third time, and again, fail to produce any noticeable movement. On the fourth try, however, I manage to get a sustainable movement, finally. My eyes open and I immediately wished I had taken my body's advice and kept them shut. I'm floating in a translucent pale fluid, though it, I can barely make out a barrier of some type. Moving is too hard, so I decide to think about what happened instead, letting my eyes drift shut.

'Let's start with what I know,' I think to myself, 'I was on a space ship traveling from one of the inner worlds… which one was it? To one of the outer colonies, Mar Sara I believe. I was going to support the Raiders in their fight against Mengsk and his dominion. I have training as a field medic, and was going to help liberate the colony, but then… oh no. the Zerg intercepted our transport as we were entering atmosphere, and I let myself be taken alive, something I had promised myself I would never do. So, that's what this is. I'm being infested.' I surprise myself with how detached I am, but then again, if I really am a part of the swarm now, I mentally shudder at the thought, then of course I would be detached, 'but that's just it, I don't feel as though I want to kill Terrans or obliterate all life in the galaxy or anything like that. No alien voices in the mind, no sign, besides the fact that I'm floating in this pod at all, that anything is wrong. maybe that's how they do it, lull you into a false sense of security, and then warp your mind while you watch for it to come another way'

I'm starting to feel better now, and so I decide to try to open my eyes again, this time to see what I looked like. I open them with much less difficulty, and move my eyes downward, hoping that I wasn't too far gone. That hope is not fulfilled, however, as my trunk is completely covered in carapace, making it look like I'm wearing a swimming suit. I'm unable to see the color accurately though the liquid which is apparently also supplying me oxygen, but I would assume that it is purple, like the rest of the Zerg. I move my head, with protests from my body, 'I wonder why that is...' My shoulders have grown what looks like armored growths reminiscent of decorated shoulder pads from medieval times. My arms are covered in the same carapace, discernibly purple on the upper arm, making me rethink my previous hypothesis as to the central carapace, fading to the same color as my chest on the lower arm. My hands are now clawed, a far sight from the surgeon's hands I used to have. My legs have protective growths coming up my sides, further adding to the impression of wearing a one piece swimming suit, these seem to continue down to my knees, below which there are several smaller copies. My feet have the toes fused together into the approximation of a shoe, and I am certain that I am wearing high heels. I sigh mentally at this, knowing how difficult it is to walk in them. I then turn my head around to make sure of what I had already begun to suspect. As I had guessed, ominous looking bone wings hovered over them, completing my recreation in the image of Kerrigan.

After I make certain of my appearance, I realize what happened to me, Kerrigan had been trying to create infested Terrans like herself, leaders for her broods to replace the outdated cerebrates. My team had uncovered one such holding of the swarm, and I had to watch as the marines put down the twisted monstrosities that had once been people with friends and families.

After this deliberation, my body alerts me to a new and concerning development. I am no longer receiving oxygen from the liquid I am suspended in. I suppose this is a method to force me from the cocoon. I oblige, moving my newly toned muscles, and newly found wings, to rip at the cocoon. I did this on instinct, as I had no real desire to leave the cocoon, even if staying in meant death. I rip open the covering, and spill out onto the ground, which was of course inside a Zerg structure. I look around slowly, and surprisingly was alone. I had assumed that Kerrigan would be standing there to greet me; once again I shudder at the thought, this time physically. I push myself onto hands and knees, and then my feet, which confirms my suspicion about having high heels. 'well' I think, 'if they're not going to try to stop me from escaping, I'm going to try. No matter how futile it might be, I will try, I will fight until they burn my mind from my body.' Once again, I'm shocked by how detached I am from my normally rampant emotions. I could be in shock, but until I get away, I'm not going to worry about it.

I walk through the twisting caverns, once again meeting almost no resistance as I do. 'This is too easy, I'm probably walking into a trap,' and other similarly pessimistic thoughts plague my mind. I have no idea where I'm going, I'm infested, and apparently I'm alone. Suddenly, a thought occurs to me, that thought being, if I was able to command the swarm, then I should be able to… do something, shouldn't I? I begin exploring my mind, looking or anything that wasn't there before. I had Psionic potential, but I was never strong enough to do anything with it. I'm so weak that the Dominion didn't pick up on it. I only even realized I had anything when we, Raynor's Raiders that is, were fighting alongside the Protoss in the Brood war. Apparently the Zerg don't care, though. Try as I might, however, I cannot find anything within my mind that seems different, which frustrates me because it probably means that whatever changes they've made to my personality, and I am sure they've made changes, I can't even detect them.

I exit the hive, for that's what it is, finally. The fleshy barriers in my way part automatically as I exit, yet another reason to be suspicious. The first thing I realize is that I'm on an asteroid, one with an artificial atmosphere to allow those not conditioned for vacuum exposure, like me, I hope, from suffocating. Something is wrong here, however. The entire area is deadly quiet. There is nothing there. No Zerglings are guarding the area from invasion, no mutalisks or overlords float through the sky. Even the buildings, which were never still when my team invaded these when I was a Terran, were still as death. Some have even collapsed, I realize as I see a baneling nest that has done so. The whole scene seemed wrong on a dangerous level. This goes against everything I have ever seen about the Zerg.

I explore the scene for a while before it finally sinks in that there is no ambush, or they would have sprung it by now assuredly. I'm completely alone. I finally allow myself to feel all the emotions I have locked down as a matter of instinct. I am infested. I sit against the side of the hive and begin sobbing, but even then no actual tears will come. Finally, when I have worn myself out emotionally, I curl up, and fall asleep once more.

* * *

Sleep is more willing to leave me this time, which is not something I appreciate. Waking up means I have to face what has happened to me. I crack an eyelid, hoping that what happened was simply a bad dream. Those hopes are in vain, however. I sigh and stand. Once again I look around the place where I had been reborn; searching for anything I could use to leave.

I have, in my period of introspection the previous night, decided that until it is proven that my mind is not my own, I will operate under the assumption that it is, as to do otherwise would only undermine my self-confidence and make me worry about something I have absolutely no control over. As such, my first order of business is to leave. I will go to the Raiders, place myself under their protection, and hopefully, if they determine that I'm me, and don't put a bullet in my head as a matter of policy, be able to help with the war effort.

'Aha!' on the outer edge of the Creep carpet is the entrance to a facility. This asteroid had been mined by Terrans. I open the door, and step inside. The power is still active, surprisingly. The facility is as eerily silent as the Zerg hive above. My first stop is to the sleeping quarters, necessary or not, it would be nice to have clothing, something to distinguish myself from the animals. I find some clothing in my size, and frown as I debate the problem of my wings and growths. Eventually I decide to move up a size to accommodate for the changes in my body, and I am able to, very carefully, force the bone-wings through the back of the shirt. After that, I want to look in a mirror, I'm able to see everything except my face, and I want to know how bad it the changes are. Thankfully, the washroom nearby has some uncracked glass. I smile for the first time since waking, finally some luck. My face still looks like mine; I don't even have the glowing yellow eyes that most Zerg do. I'm going to take it as a sign that I'm still me, in spite of the alterations, and so head back out. Now properly decent, and knowing more about how I look now, I go to a computer terminal to see where I am, and what I can do.

As it turns out, I'm in the Char system, so I would not be asking for reinforcements, even if they would come, given my current condition. Whatever had driven the Kel-Morians to come here, they have my thanks. I discover that this was a well-established facility, and through a map, am able to find a hangar. I've had basic training with piloting, which means I know how to punch in a set of coordinates and let the onboard adjutant do the rest. I climb into a shuttle with the onboard IFF labels the phoenix, which I think is quite interesting considering what I'm using it for. I almost tell the shuttle to go to Mar Sara, but then I remember that the planet has come under attack by the Zerg as soon as I had gone into orbit, and so would probably not have any raiders on it one way or another. Therefore I just tell the computer to get me out of the char system, hoping that I can contact the Raiders.


	2. Chapter 2

**2nd chapter up, this one is a little more light-hearted in places, as it involves a lot of hurry up and wait. there is also a reference to Dr. Who, which I do not own. **

**FtDLulz, thanks. **

**izwan, I think you'll like this chapter :) I did do a little exposition as to whether she was Raider or Dominion in the last chapter, Ex: when she was talking about her minor Psionic potential she talks about how she discovered it while they, the Raiders, were fighting alongside the Protoss.**

**as always, I appreciate any comments concerns or criticisms you may have. **

* * *

I engage the communications system and patch myself into the Raider's network with the passcode I was given when I joined up, soon after its founding. It took a lot of convincing to get the adjutant to do anything for me at all, as when I first got on, the only communication it gave me was "Zerg DNA detected, engaging security protocols." It was a good thirty minutes before I was able to get around those security protocols. I don't pride myself on my hacking abilities, but I think I should be able to get into a relatively unprotected server faster than that. The call was answered, by one of the people who I had hoped would not answer. It was my squad leader, Andrew Cole.

"Julia? You're alive?" he says before he realizes what he sees, when the realization hits, his face turns from elation at one of his oldest friends survival, to despair.

"Wait!" I cry as he reaches to turn off the communication. He pauses for a moment, and looks up.

"Why should i? So that you can gloat? So that you can tell me how "good" this new form feels, offer me a place in your "ascension?" why should I listen to anything you have to say?" his deep sadness turning to anger as he barrages me. "You didn't deserve what happened to you, but now that I know it has, the only thing I can do is make sure you are put to rest."

"Wait! I'm still me!" I blurt out desperately as he reaches again for the button that would sever my lifeline to Terran civilization. His finger pauses, and he looks up distrustfully. "at least, I think I am. I woke up a few hours ago in the Char system inside a cocoon, once I knew what had happened to me, I was disgusted, not elated. I don't know how it happened, but you have to believe me when I say that I am still myself" I speak quickly so that he doesn't lose patience and end the call anyway. I'm still unsure that I am myself, but if I let him know that, he will not hesitate to drop the call and leave me on the off-chance that I'm faking it. That's just the way he works. If I am to have a chance of determining what had happened to me, I have to display supreme confidence in the fact that it is still me inside this body, and not some image of the Zerg. One missed step, and I would be doomed.

"what reason do I have to believe you?" he snarls, unwilling to give any hope to himself, believing it would only end in betrayal, like what had happened to Raynor in the brood war.

"because if you don't, and I turn out to be genuine, you will hate yourself for the rest of your life. If I am telling a lie, and you don't believe me, you have gained nothing. Now, if you believe me, you will either gain a powerful ally, if I am telling the truth, or you may lose a few guards putting me down if I am telling a lie. Please, take a chance." I attempt to appeal to his better nature,

"I… don't know" he says, doubt playing across his face, he is tempted by the hope of getting me back, even if only in mind. I have been there from the beginning with him, and he trusts, or at least trusted, me implicitly I don't want to push much farther, knowing that if I seem to desperate now, he may believe that it's a trick. "I won't promise anything, but… I will do what I can for you, I owe you that much at least. I'll talk to my superiors, probably all the way up to Raynor himself, because if you're telling the truth, then they can be beaten." I nod thankfully, knowing that although it is not a 'yes come in', it's not a no either. "I will wait to hear from you again." I say, and he cuts the communication.

* * *

Forty three minutes later, I finally receive a call back. Hope and fear in equal proportions surge through me as I answer the call from the Raiders. When I answer it, I am shocked, although perhaps I should not be. Raynor is on the other end of the communication. I've fought alongside him, and support his cause with all my heart, but I've never gotten to know the man himself. When he sees me, his face falls even further than it already has, as he sees the high resemblance between what happened to me and what Kerrigan is now. The change in expression lasts only an instant, and then he is back to seriousness. He looks me straight in the eyes and says "if this is a trick, you'd best call it off now. Because, if I find out you've been lying in any part of the exchange I heard about, then there ain't a single thing in the universe that'll stop me from putting you down. I've decided, against my better judgment, to allow you onto the Hyperion, and even that much is only because of the immense time and effort put into it by your Squad Leader. He seems to think you're for real. I'll give you coordinates for a shuttle, guarded by my men. They'll then escort you to the Hyperion. After that, you'll go straight into confinement until my scientists can find out what's going on. Luckily for you, we just picked up Dr. Hanson, otherwise I'd let Stettman have a go at you. After that, well. We'll see what the tests show."

I am quiet throughout the whole thing, simply listening and accepting the judgment as it is given. He is being remarkably trusting. If I had met myself in this same situation yesterday, I'd have put a bullet in my own brain on the off chance that I was being controlled; of course, Raynor is a slightly different story. I don't know all that happened between him and Kerrigan, but if half the rumors on the ship were true, then they had something before she got captured, and, I believe, he's never stopped blaming himself for her capture. If I was in that position, with someone I love captured and turned against me, I would be looking for any way I could to free them. After he finishes, I nodd and say "yes sir" respectfully. "Here are the codes for the system, the planet's name is Redstone, and we were headed there anyway. Be ready for pickup in two hours." I nod again, and he cuts off the communication.

I sit back in my pilot's chair, exhaling a breath that I had apparently been holding. Two hours, I have two hours of free time. I punch in the coordinates of the system he gave me, and I begin looking around for something I can fill the time with. I eventually settle on one of the classics, and pop up a virtual chess interface. I set the computer to easy and began playing, letting my mind wander as I outwit the preprogrammed computer with the same strategy I use almost every time. I think back to the times I had spent with the Raiders. I had joined after the UED Invasion of korhal in the brood war. During that time, I learned more about how the dominion truly operated, and what Mengsk had done to secure power. I was, and still am sickened by it and, after the two forces separated, I stayed on with the Raiders.

After that, I joined a specialized team which dealt with "hearts and minds" missions, as Matt Horner called them. We would rescue civilians who were under attack, and then offer them the chance to join us, if they said no, they were returned to the dominion secretly. If they said yes, then they stayed on, either as spies within the dominion, or as forces and resources for the Raiders. That was how I encountered the Zerg facility involving infested Terrans. It was a nightmare, I was only very recently able to get over the trauma of what had happened in that facility, and my mind still shies away from that set of memories. After that incident, my team and I were put on shore leave, individually on worlds controlled by the Umojan Protectorate. We could have stayed together, but we decided to have some time away from each other. When the shore leave was over, I was heading back to the fight when my transport was intercepted by the Zerg.

I feel a small sense of victory as I capture the enemy king with my queen and a rook along the back edge of the chessboard, and the game ends. Chess is not my favorite game, but the other strategy games that I really enjoy aren't downloaded onto this console, which only has the standard set, and besides, they're all MMOs.

* * *

An hour into the waiting time, I've arrived on the asteroid orbiting the same system Raynor sent me, and I've beaten every difficulty of chess, as well as hearts, minesweeper, and regular and spider Solitaire at least once. After that, I log into my account for a pay-to-watch movie registry and began looking at my options there. I start an episode of some British time traveler show from the 21st century on earth. Apparently it's only still around because some diehard fans went with the supercarriers, and brought Every, Single, Season With them.

* * *

I turn off the screen as the timer I had set goes off. The two hours have finally gone by. Now, to see if they are really going to keep their word about me, not that I truly doubt it or anything. I set up the scanners to detect incoming ships, and sure enough, one with the IFF Insurgent, as if that isn't a tipoff as to the organization it belongs to, is heading towards my location. It lands on the asteroid beside me, and I put on the EVA gear stored in the shuttle, which thankfully consists of a helmet and separate pieces of clothing. I patch up the rips my wings have made in my current clothing as well as I can, trying to get it as airtight as possible, put on the gloves, which were able to connect to the sleeves of my shirt, and then simply make my pants seal up at the ankles, not seeing any way to fit the high heels into the shoe they provided, and assuming the carapace would keep me safe there. Upon reviewing, I figured that I could probably survive without even the gloves, but I decided that for my own sanity I would still wear them.

I head outside, and walk slowly towards the dropship with my hands raised to keep the marines, whose trigger fingers appear to be growing rather twitchy, from attacking me. As I suspected, the exposed portions of my body, feet and wings, are chilled slightly, but other than that have no ill effects. Once inside the dropship, I am ordered, roughly, to "place your hands behind your back". I comply and am securely cuffed. The journey to Hyperion is completely silent, the marines simply staring at me with their guns in the "two hand ready" position. I spend most of the time trying not to shift too conspicuously. When docked, I am lead to the brig, specifically, to a Neosteel cell with Psionic inhibitors. solitary confinement with the utmost protection they can offer, I am certain that if I was to try, with my new form I can eventually get out of it, but not before I'm killed by the four combat suited marines, and two firebats they have covering the door, as well as the guards that are currently escorting me, six marines and double the firebats on the door. They really aren't taking any chances with me.

I am shoved roughly inside, and my cuffs are removed by an automated machine inside the cell. I stretch my arms, slowly, and making sure that nothing I do can be interpreted as hostile. The guards who were leading me to the cell leave, the "small" contingent of forces that were here originally remaining behind, silent and completely still. I remove the EVA gloves and helmet, as I was not given a chance to before, and leave them in a corner. I don't dare try to make conversation, given the stares I'm receiving, and so sit down on the uncomfortable bed.

* * *

After an indeterminable period of time I am released by the same contingent of silent guards as before, I can tell because they all have personalized markings on their equipment, and escorted, hands again bound, through the halls. I try to remember that I am among friends here, but it seems weak against the intimidating presence of the guardsmen. By this time an uncomfortable sensation has begun which, if I were asked to describe it, I would say is hunger. It is different from when I was a Terran, but the more I think about it, the more similar it became, even beginning to centralize as a hollow feeling in my stomach. I have no idea what, or even if, Zerg ate, and I would have to ask once I am allowed.

Eventually we come to a door, the marines open it into a medbay type area, with several machines and instruments. I am motioned forward by my guards, who then leave, sealing the door behind them. A voice over the loudspeaker tells me first to walk over to a machine which appears similar to the one in my cell, which removes my handcuffs, and then to step into a machine on the right. I comply and lights begin to scan me up and down. Once the full body scan is completed, another one is done just for my head. When that is accomplished, I am directed to another table. On this one I am told to place my arm through a cuff to the middle of my upper arm. I comply, and a needle ejects itself from the machine, and into the, relatively, soft surface of my arm. it withdraws a sample of blood, which I note unhappily has changed color slightly.

That accomplished, my guards return, cuff me, and lead me back down the winding hallways to my cell. The whole procedure takes what I estimate to be forty five minutes. Soon after, the ship's "night" cycle begins, and I fall back to sleep, my second in this form.


	3. Chapter 3

**a little shorter chapter this time, but hopefully good nonetheless. read and review please. **

**Izwan, yes the timeline was within wings of liberty. I've kind of laced this throughout the story, Raynor was in zero-hour when she was captured, then he did smash and grab, as well as the Agria mission. he was near the end of the Meinhoff one when he received the communication from Julia. while Hanson and Stettman were trying to piece together what happened to her, Raynor was commanding the one on Redstone. I agree that it's a good idea to bring Hanson into it, she's a biologist, and as such should be invaluable in finding out what happened to her, as you will see in this chapter. as for the serum, this will go in the direction of that, and I will put more on it later. this chapter should give some small clues as to the Psionic aspect of it, but I will explain more if you PM me, as I don't want too much to go out to the general public just yet. finally, in my mind Raynor doesn't know about Tosh's history as a ghost/Spectre as of Redstone, and therefore would not be able to use him to see if she is lying. PM me and I will explain more about this whole situation I have planned. **

**also, does anyone think I should get a beta for this? and if so, do you know one? **

* * *

While Julia sleeps, Dr. Ariel Hanson and Egon Stettman are hard at work trying to determine the physical effects of the infestation upon her body. The scans, both the full body and the cranial, are examined closely, every detail written down and dissected for its theorized effect upon her. The blood panel has come back, and is similarly studied. After hours of work, going long into the night cycle onboard the Hyperion, they are ready to present their findings to Raynor.

"so doc, what've you got for me?" Raynor asks as he walks into the lab.

"Well," Hanson begins "we've received mostly normal , for what we have on infestation, readings from the blood panel and the full body scan. The changes there aren't our main concern, though, and we'll leave those for another time. What really interests me, though, is the Cranial scan. I won't bore you with all the technical details, but look at this" she brings up a comparison of several scans on the console's screen, "on the left here is a scan collected from a brood-war era "suicide" Infested whose brain scan we brought in for reference, like most of the pictures here. In this subject, most of the original brain, colored in yellow, is gone, replaced by the Zerg infestation, seen here in purple. This subject has had most of his consciousness removed, and replaced by Zerg tendrils, which of course means that it is about as sentient as an animal. The reason we don't have any before this, is because this era of infestation explode when they attack, making it difficult to find samples. To the right one is a current-day infested, like what we encountered on Meinhoff, there's a little more brain matter, allowing it to coordinate better, but again, this thing is not sentient. Next we see one of the failed commander-level infested that Julia herself encountered, if the reports are right. Here, a lot more of the original brain is preserved, but note the "control spires" as we are calling them, interspersed throughout the tissue, as well as completely taking over the hypothalamus and cerebellum."

"whoa there doc, smaller words if you don't mind"

"right, well, let's just say they've taken over the center for hormone secretion, the section of the brain that produces responses such as fear, and the area that controls muscle control and coordination. Next is a normal Terran brain, just for reference. On the far right here, is Julia's Brain. Now, look back at the rest of the images, and tell me which one looks most similar?"

Raynor takes a moment to inspect all the images, before indicating the uninfested brain.

"right, that's what I thought too. There is very little changes to her brain whatsoever, and the few that there are appear exclusively within the cerebellum, and do not appear consistent with infestation. Likely, they are changes to help her control her wings, although without more evidence I can't say for sure. If these scans are correct, and I believe they are, then she's telling the truth."

"Well… ain't that something." Was all Raynor can say, lost in thought.

"Exactly, If we can figure out how this happened, and recreate it… " Hanson looks hopeful, thinking on her growing concerns over her colonists on Haven.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, doc, this could still be a trick, send her in like this then enable something to cause the true infestation once we're all comfortable." Raynor warns

"so what are you suggesting? We just leave her in there when she's done nothing wrong?" Hanson argues back.

"No, I'm suggesting we take precautions, things like regular checkups, noticing any changes in behavior, things like that." He states. He is already planning on letting her out. Tychus would be thrilled. He had already complained about having "one of them" onboard the ship. Swann he wasn't sure of, but he'd probably have something similar to say. There was also that pirate, Tosh, who had already forwarded him the next mission he wanted, some place called Bel'shir. This was one worry off of his mind, however it causes a half-dozen more. 'Just when I thought I'd it figured out…' he thinks to himself. Raynor sighs, and goes back to his quarters to catch the little sleep he can before he's needed in the morning.

* * *

Awareness snaps back to me, much different from the last two times I have woken up. I was dreaming about being captured again, so I would not have gotten a restful night's sleep, even without my worries over what their tests were going to show. I don't know what happened; honestly it is still within reason to assume that I am a servant of the swarm and I simply do not know it yet. I push that last thought aside quickly, reaffirming my previous assertion that I would not think about that as it is something out of my control. I sit up, and stretch stiff muscles, something apparently the Zerg have not found a way around yet. My cell looks the same as it did last night, although the guards are absent now. 'That's curious,' I think to myself. My hunger has grown over the night, and now it is quite persistent. I look around, hoping to see food, but am disappointed. I get off of the cot, and walk towards the exit. That's when Raynor walks around the corner. "you're up" he says, and I nod and say "yes".

"Good news, the tests have shown that, medically at least, you're not being controlled. As such, welcome back, Julia Daren." I'm startled; 'the tests were done that quickly?'

"Thank you" I say, and then inquire "do you know where I could eat? I haven't since I woke up like this, and I'm rather hungry." He nods, and unlocks the cell.

"Now, you understand that even though these scans show that you're not being controlled, I can't just let you have the run of the ship. Not yet at least, I'll lead you to Hanson, though, the good doctor has some questions for you, and I'm sure she could get you something to eat there." I nod once more, and follow him through the halls, hands unbound. He's showing the greatest amount of trust he can. He needs the crew to see that he's taking precautions, as most of them will distrust a Zerg on principle, even one that, according to their commander, retains her mind. It will take time for them to warm up to me, but I hope that it can be done. I am lead on a different route this time, and, as a result, arrive at a different room. This one is a laboratory; in the center is a containment field which holds two strange metal objects. I eye them warily, something about them seeming wrong to me, and my hunger becomes even more pronounced.

"hey doc, we're here" he says, and the woman who must be Doctor Hanson looks up from the project she is working on.

"oh, good." She looks up and smiles, something which surprises me quite a bit given the reactions of the rest of the crew towards me. Then she actually reaches forward to shake my hand, "Doctor Ariel Hanson."

I take her hand in mine, looking at her, and not seeing any trace of disgust, even when her human skin meets my hardened carapace. "Julia Daren" I say, trying to work up a smile as well. Raynor bows out. My first concern is my stomach, which has grown to an extremely distracting sensation, so when we sit down, I inquire, "I'm kind of new to the whole Zerg thing, but do you know if I can eat? I'm getting extremely hungry." She looks up, appearing as startled as I felt when she greeted me

"I… think so, your digestive track has not been overly changed by the transformation, although waste removal has been. Normal Zerg receive nutrients from creep, but I'd guess you would prefer a more human method, correct?" I nod, and she reaches for her communicator, and requests food to be brought down to the lab. After that had been accomplished, she turns her attention back to me. "I'm sure you're wondering why I wanted to talk to you, but essentially, I want you to tell me what you've been through the last few days. Leave no detail out; anything could be a clue to figuring out why you survived with your mind intact when so many did not."

I nod, and begin to recount my experience, after she enables a recording device so that what I say could be recorded for future reference, starting with waking up inside the cocoon I tell her the color of the liquid, the texture of the pod, and anything else I can think of. Then I move on to walking through the decaying Zerg base, and end up giving her coordinates for the asteroid so that she could ask Raynor to send a probe. I talk about the Kel-Morian Facility, finding the clothes I'm currently wearing, and then getting onto the shuttle itself. I talk about how I was feeling mentally and physically that entire time, leaving no details out. When I was finished, she stops recording, and thanks me. Then our food is delivered, suspiciously late thinking of when it was asked for, especially considering the look on the face of the man who delivered it. I tear into the food, which turns out to be a military-style MRE, voraciously. Maybe it is the new senses I have been given, maybe it is the fact that I have not eaten in two days, or maybe it is some combination of these factors, but that food is the best I have tasted in quite some time, which is a little concerning when you think about it. My hunger sated at last, Hanson turns to lighter subjects, my past with the Raiders, where I was from, just nice simple get to know you stuff. I almost forget for a time what had happened over the past two days, as I simply enjoy the conversation.

After spending some time like that, I finally stand and say "thank you for the conversation, but there are some other people who I would like to talk to as well." She nods, understanding that I was referring to my old squad, and says "I'll walk with you so that you can go now." I nod appreciatively, knowing that I was not supposed to go anywhere without an escort. We walk out the door, and towards the barracks. I recognize the route, and feel emotion welling up inside me as I remember all the times I had taken this route before. It would never be the same, even after I was accepted; nothing would ever be the same again. Eventually, we stand before the door to Alpha squadron's quarters. The squads are named not for performance, but for the first letter of the CO's name. If there are two squads with the same name, then the last names are included as well. It discourages competition, to be named that way. Competition is all well and good of course, but when everyone is vying to get onto a single squad, displays of bravado and daring feats which end in the death of those involved are all too common. Everyone knows that the real "alpha" squadron would be Epsilon Tango squad, led by Emilie Terrance. These thoughts all flash through my head as I stand at their door. Hanson backs off, and I open the door, to face my squad mates.

* * *

**My fist Cliffhanger :) I'm starting to understand the appeal (evil laugh)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Fourth chapter up. this one is a lot happier than I had originally planned, but I really don't think I would like it as much any other way. please review, I need the advice, what you liked, what you didn't etcetera. **

* * *

I step through the door, not knowing who would be there, or what to expect. I am terrified, these men and women have become like a second family to me, and to have them see me like this, it's extremely difficult to even go through with it. By that same vein of logic, however, I must go through with it, for my own sake as well as for theirs. I don't want them to think badly of me, but they deserve to know what happened. Trust won't come easily, but I hope and believe that it will come. I have to lower my wings to enter the room, as the doorways that lead into the troop quarters are smaller than the ones that house the more public facilities.

My squad is inside. They are talking to each other, most looking extremely solemn, with a few looking angry or mistrustful even in just talking. As the door opens, first one, then another of them turns to look as a dead silence falls over the room. It continues unhindered for several seconds, before it is broken by Andrew himself, who greets me with a simple "Julia" and a nod. After that, the proverbial floodgates open, and everyone begins talking at once, I hear the words "she's walking free?" and "why did they bring it here?" that last one hurting, as the speaker, who I believe is Dave, one of the more outspoken members of our group, refuses to acknowledge that I have a shred of humanity left in me, thus using the gender neutral pronoun, it, instead of her. Andrew gets them calmed down eventually, before turning back to me. "Well?" he asks, "why did you come here?"

My mouth is slow to move, fear at saying something wrong, and losing the trust of this group weighing down on me as I try to construct an answer. Finally, I settle for the inadequate "you're my friends, and my squad. I needed to see you." It was true, but it appeared that the truth is not what they want, as looks of displeasure radiate throughout the group. Throughout all of this, I am still standing in the doorway, stopped in my tracks by the intensity of their stares. Andrew once again comes to my rescue, motioning me inside, to sounds of displeasure from behind him. I note, however, that my close friends no longer looked distrusting. They are the group of friends I have formed even within the squad. I trust every member with my life, I have to, but I am closer to some than to others. That group, consists of Myself, Blake Anthony, a well-muscled, serious marine with military cut brown hair and brown eyes, and Zeke Hopewell, a wiry blonde with blue eyes and a carefree attitude. he is also a marine, although the CMC armor looks ridiculous on him. I had black hair and green eyes. The hair is gone now, but the eyes remain. The three of us spent most off mission hours together, and had managed to requisition several computer interfaces to allow for LAN multiplayer games of some of our favorite games. Both of them have been with me from the beginning, and we know each other's mannerisms by heart. Zeke looks hopeful, and is staying silent, while Blake is looking away from me altogether, and apparently is in fierce debate with Dave. They appear to be my only support from the group. I mentally tell myself to stop moping and acting like a character from a cheap romance novel. I have support, or so it appears, which is much more than I had been expecting previously. I sit down in the chair provided, nodding a thank you to Zeke, who had given it up. he flashes a small smile back at me, and moves to stand against a wall. "Why don't you tell us what happened" Andrew prods gently. I realize the opening I have been given, hoping it would be enough to gain a small amount of their trust.

For the second time that day, I recount what happened to me. I closely gauge their responses, ranging from distrust and hatred on the faces of Dave and several other members, to studiously blank from Andrew, disbelief from the other medic, Tim, as well as several new faces I did not recognize, and finally, from among my close friends, careful optimism. In this account, unlike the one I gave the good doctor, I include what happened to me after I was onboard the Hyperion, as, unlike Doctor Hanson, they did not know. I finish by saying that although I still did not know what had happened to me; whatever tests the Raiders performed indicated that I am still myself.

Their curiosity satisfied, for now, and with a few words of encouragement from Andrew, most of the squad returns to what they were doing, or a good approximation thereof. Although, I still catch people staring in my direction when they believe I am not looking. I move over with my friends to a corner, away from the rest of the squad.

The silence lasts only a second before Zeke says "so… that… happened. I have to admit, you outdid me there, Julia. Infested, stranded on a base within the Zerg's home system, no problem. You just waltz right out." He says, grinning. That's the way he deals with pressure, by turning it into something humorous.

I return the smile, and shoot back at him "if you were in this situation, I'm sure you would have just killed everything in your way, regardless of whether or not it was alive in the first place." That was a reference to a mission where he shot the corpse of a Zergling no less than seven times before he would be convinced it was dead. He's jumpy in the field, not a bad trait, especially with the neat little IFFs that keep people on our side from sneaking up on him during battle, but it does get a little ridiculous some of the time.

He smiles wider at the crack, my dry wit, which I had very little occasion to use over the past two days, finally coming out of its hiding place. Not to be outdone, he comes right back around with "You ever think of forming a church? With those wings you could almost convince people you were an angel, until you open your mouth of course. The game would be up rather quickly then."

I feel instantly at home, comfortable with these two, Zeke and I bantering back and forth while Blake waits it out. We continue like that for several minutes, the joking finally begins to die down, and then Blake says seriously "I'm glad you're back, Julia. I was worried."

I smile, and say "thanks. I was too."

Zeke joins in, grinning and not willing to give up one last jibe, "I wasn't." he indicates that he's joking by his tone and nonverbal cues, "I knew that your medic magic would get you out, not to mention your awe-inspiring Psionic might, o' mystic seer" I sigh, partially exasperated, he never was going to give that up.

Curiously, I ask "so, what gave it away? How did you figure out that I wasn't just trying to lure you all into a false sense of security and then kill you all, eat your flesh, and sew your skin into my clothing, preferably in that order?" I referenced another old television series, not that there were any new ones. The Kel-Morians had no reason to make them, the Dominion's series were all so heavily propagandized that anyone who watched them would either puke or want to go out to kill some "raider scum" and the Umojans weren't exactly rich, they could publish the old ones, but they didn't have the resource to make any new ones. Therefore, we were stuck with movies and shows from before the super carriers. My favorite show would have to be firefly, especially the second season with the new director and the CGI cast, although they did use the original actors as their Voice Actors.

It was Blake that answers. "first off, as far as we know, the only infested Terran to have kept their intelligence is Kerrigan, and even she had major changes to her personality. When we heard that you had come back in your current… situation, we decided that they wouldn't have been able to figure out how to exactly copy your personality, but one that served the swarm, in that short of time. So we decided that we would see what you were like when you acme in here, if you acted like yourself, and we couldn't see anything different, then you were you, if not, then you were a spy. You passed the test perfectly I'm happy to say, so we know it's you."

It's just like them, logical, makes sense theoretically, and yet is completely insane by any normal standard. So many things could go wrong, and yet they, probably with Zeke leading, plowed ahead anyway. It's like a lot of their strategies in our games, a gambit that requires everything to fall into place, and somehow it does.

Zeke gets around to the next topic of conversation. "so, did you see me?"

I look at him, "what?"

He responds with "did you see me? When you were in prison, I was one of your guards."

I'm shocked. "no, I didn't see your power armor anywhere."

He smiles grimly, "that's because I was wearing a different suit. I did wave at you though, didn't you see it?"

I respond "no. no I did not. Of course, I was under some stress at the time. If I knew you were there, it would have been a lot easier."

He looks down, in actual shame. "We were told not to talk to you at all. I'm sorry, but it was a direct order."

I nod. "I understand. Even still that does make me feel a little better. Thanks."

The serious topic done with, he grins again and says "and Julia, I thought you hated high heels"

I grumble, I knew this was coming. "I do, it's not like I had a choice or anything."

He laughs out loud at that, "so you're telling me, that you got stuck, not only in an infested body, but an infested body with the footwear you hate the most in the galaxy? I told you the universe would get revenge for winning against me that many times. I still say you were cheating" I let that one pass, knowing that the argument would be fruitless considering he would never admit to leaving his supply lines that unprotected.

Then I say "surprisingly, they actually aren't that bad."

his mouth falls open in mock horror, "it's not her! Help! Help!" he stage yells, grinning. That's all he gets through before I punch him, lightly, in the stomach, making sure not to actually hurt him, and his cries devolve into fits of laughter. This reunion went so much better than I had assumed it would, my friends still trust me, and everything is good with the world for now.

After all too short of a time, someone else enters the cabin. I look up to see Hanson; she says "Julia, I'm afraid I need you to come with me. We've had a development we need to discuss right away." I take a last look at my friends, who nod, and I stand, and leave with Hanson.

Concerned, I ask "what's going on, doctor?"

she looks at me and says "we need to determine what to do with you, and fill you in on what we've found now that we've made some theories." I nod, it makes sense. They're going to give me a diagnosis. Probably they're going to tell me both how deep the infestation has spread, and why they believe I'm able to fight it as I have. I follow her back to the lab, retracing the steps I had taken what was only about an hour ago, but feels like it was much farther away than that. We spend the rest of the short trip in silence, a comfortable silence, but silence nonetheless.

We enter the room, to be greeted by Raynor and Stettman, who were looking at the console on the far side of the room. Hanson speaks up as we enter. "we still have no idea why you were able to escape the mind controlling effects of infestation, we do know how. For some reason, your nerve cells are almost completely unchanged from the Terran norm. in fact, the only modifications at all were to the brain stem, which allows you to use your new appendages, and that's simple adaptation, not Zerg enhancement. Other than that, however, most of your body has been completely overrun by the virus. Your cardiorespiratory, and digestive track were left mostly intact, although there are some small modifications made for greater efficiency. As I'm sure you know, your musculoskeletal system has undergone the most radical change, your muscle density has been exponentially increased, and in addition to your normal Terran bones, which are still there, you now have an outer layer of carapace which acts as an exoskeleton. Your immune system suffered the second greatest change, with entirely new forms of leukocytes common to zerg. These will not target the Hyperevolutionary Virus, but will aggressively seek out and eliminate any "foreign" material, without the normal duress to your systems. In other words, you will not get sick. Your endocrine and nervous systems are still entirely intact, apart from increased adrenal glands. Unfortunately, we could find only vestigial remnants of your reproductive system, as it has been entirely selected against. Unless for some reason it returns, I am afraid you will not be able to have children." Even though I knew that in this form it was extremely likely, hearing that confirmed was hard. Of course, I would never raise a child like this; there would be too much danger of hurting him or her, but still, knowing that it's not an option is a little hard. I understand everything she is saying, and file it away in case I ever need medical care. As a medic, you have to know these things.

Raynor began to speak after that. "Well, as she said, we can't see anything that would stop you from wanting to help out here. We still don't want you going planetside until we know why you're still you, and that it's not going to go away, but until then, I don't see why you couldn't help out, treating our wounded and helping out doc here."

"thank you, sir" I say, I am still be able to help. This is great, almost as good as my reunion with the squad. Even so, I feel a nagging suspicion that the good times couldn't stay around forever.

Hanson says "I will need your help, two people trying to figure this out will work better than one, and if we can duplicate what happened to you, many lives could be saved." I resolve then to make sure that we do, after all, saving lives is what I'm good at.


	5. Chapter 5

**sorry guys, this chapter won't be quite as good as some of my others, but it still needs to happen. I'm a biology nerd, so I apologise if this gets a little deep for some of you in the technical aspects of science. I do try to make it as real as possible, and I enjoy talking about the genome and such. it's not altogether integral to the story that you read that part, so if it gets to sound a little too much like a genetics lecture for your liking, you can skip a little. in addition, this chapter includes a POV shift to Raynor for a little while, during the Breakout mission. I personally do not like Blizzard's handling of that mission, so I have changed it somewhat to allow for the relentless attacks by Raynor without a massive body count on both sides. now, onto reviews. **

**Khazin, all I have to say is Spoilers. :)**

**izwan, that was a firefly reference to the Reavers, but I agree that would not be out-of-place. and, although I will not tell you anything about the story ahead, I can tell you that, to me at least, controlling the Zerg is a two-way street, in order to have power over them, they must have power over you. Julia is not able to be reached by the Zerg consciousness, therefore she cannot reach the Zerg consciousness. thank you for your constant helpful reviews. **

**as always, Read and Review. **

* * *

After our talk, and my decision to assist in whatever way I could, I am allowed some free time, as the injuries from the last mission on Bel'Shir had been relatively light, and had already been cleaned up by other Medics. I had been given permission to walk around the ship freely, if I am escorted, as well as permission to sleep in my old bunk if my squad allows it. Andrew said yes, so I of course decide to return to my barracks, and more specifically, to my gaming console. I am just certain that my friends have used my apparent death as an excuse to rack up points for my inevitable return.

Thus distracted, I do not see Dave until I almost walk into him. As I pass, he whispers into my ear something that sounds menacing, and yet at the same time so cliché that it's difficult to take altogether seriously. "You may have the rest of them fooled, Zerg, but I know what you really are, and when you slip up, and you will, I'll be there, waiting." I swear he stole that line from a movie; nevertheless, it had the desired effect. I decide to off-balance him a little bit and answer back "isn't it just a little melodramatic, not to mention foolish, to inform me of your scheme? I mean, theoretically, if I was under the control of the Zerg, and you told me that, then I would be watching all the more closely. It would make far more sense to just watch me from the shadows, without telling me your master plan, wouldn't it?" that line of reasoning was completely me, I've commented the same thing several times about movies and games, so I'm surprised he doesn't even show a little recognition, just more hate. At that point, I decide not to give the guy wanting to, presumably, kill me tactical advice, and so simply continue on my way. Hanson, who was escorting me, looks over her shoulder and asks "what was that about" I respond simply "not everyone is exactly willing to trust yet." "Ah" was her only response.

Thankfully, my entrance into the barracks is much less… dramatic than it was last time. In fact, the only real response is a nod from Andrew, who is pouring over some type of document. The rest of the squad, excluding Dave and two of the new faces, are already in their bunks. Only then do I realize just how tired I really am. I have been going on emotions and willpower it appears, and I was so deep in my own thoughts that I did not notice the ship's entrance into the night cycle. Thankfully, from glancing at the clock, it is only 2128 military time, or around nine thirty civilian. My bunk is empty, and my drawers are still stocked with my clothing, although I will likely have to requisition new ones to deal with the carapace, so that they will not rip at a moment's notice. For now though, my current clothes will last the night, and therefore I curl up on my side and slowly fall to sleep.

* * *

I awake before the morning cycle began, by about half an hour. I am dragged from another nightmare of capture. Seeing the time, I decide that it would be pointless to sleep in any longer, and would prefer to partake in the final Terran custom that I had not yet, that of a warm shower. Come to think of it, I'm probably rather filthy, not having washed myself since I was expelled from the chrysalis. Thankfully, it did not smell, at least to me, but it would still be nice to get it off. This ship was dubbed a flying palace for a reason, even the crew bathrooms have individual showers for privacy, not that it matters all that much for me any longer. In addition to that, they were just across the hall from me, so I felt no real need to wake someone up to act as a guard. I take my uniform from my drawers, consisting of a short-sleeved shirt and long pants, the shirt being a light shade of blue to indicate my profession; marines wear red much to Zeke's despair over being a redshirt. I enter said washroom, set my uniform outside the stall and walk in; peeling off the Miner's outfit, and tearing it in at least two additional places. As I had predicted, the shower removes quite a bit of biomass from me. I know the ship's filtration systems can handle it, as this is not the most dirty I've ever been when coming back from a mission. I wash my body and briefly consider putting shampoo into my head-tentacle things, but then discard the idea, knowing that it would most likely not make a difference.

during this, I am struck by how foreign my own body looks to me. I haven't had much of a chance to look at my changes outside of the cocoon. now though, I have a clear view. some of the finer details become obvious now, the texture of the carapace is almost fractal in nature, a self-symmetry with overlapping plates, leaving no weak points, while not compromising flexibility. another large change, and one that I'm barely coming to terms with, are the wings. extending from my mid-back, and increasing my height by at least another foot, these are easily the most obvious, and the one most likely to draw parallels back to the Queen of Blades. I can feel them only most of the time, but when I do, it's just as well as I can feel any other part of my body. from what I understand, this is the opposite of the feeling of a phantom-limb, my brain is acclimatizing to receiving input from something it did not have before. The last few days have been quite something, and now that I have a moment of piece, the second stage of realization, if it can be called that, hits. this is what I'm likely going to look like for the rest of my life. it's a terrifying feeling, made only slightly easier by the knowledge that there is some trust for me on the team. Now clean, I turn off the water, step out of the shower, dry myself off, and pull on the clothes I had waiting, wincing as they rip for my wings. thinking somberly about the future, I exit the washroom.

As I return, I see Blake at his computer terminal. He's always been an early riser. Of course I go over to see what he's doing. He looks up as I approach. "Hey, Julia, look at this." He says, indicating today's orders, which are updated electronically every morning. They state that "today's mission will be handled by Mechanized forces, all marines report to the Armory for additional training". Mechanized forces mean they're looking for numbers, not human skill. The next line will have the Medic assignments. For Tim, it's a simulation course, for me, it's reporting to Doctor Hanson in the lab to begin our studies. I look back at Blake, who appears happy about the schedule, probably because it doesn't involve being put in the line of fire. I do wonder what the mission will be, but it's not the most important thing on my mind at the moment. I still have around fifteen minutes before I can to leave, so I sit down next to him at the terminal. I ask "you're excited your job is being replaced by machines? And I thought I was supposed to be the crazy one."

He responds simply "they can have my job, so long as they don't take my pay." I finally pay attention to what's on the terminal, he had been talking to his family, although his dad had just logged off. He was lucky, his family supported the Raiders, his father worked as a technician in a Dominion funded corporation, and he passed along any new schematics he could to the Raiders. His mom had passed away years earlier, on Tarsonis, and his two brothers were a Firebat and an SCV pilot.

At thoughts of family, old sadness again invades my thoughts, my immediate family was dead, I was an only child and my parents had died in a hull breach when I was nineteen. I'd gotten over it, mostly. I push it to the back of my mind and once again simply resolve to do the best that I can. I ask Blake "how are they doing?"

He answers with "fine, they've mostly been worried about you ever since you went missing. I told them you were back but didn't go into many details"

"thanks, I'd rather tell them myself."

He agrees "I thought you would". after that, he turns to fully face me, looking serious. "how are you doing? I know this... whole thing cannot be easy for you, although I can't even imagine what you're going through".

I shake my head, and sigh before saying "we'll see... I'm still kind of in shock over the whole thing. it's only been a couple of days since it happened. I jump when I look down and see my hands, and my entire center of balance has been thrown off by my wings. mostly, it's just surreal though."

"we're here for you, you know that. if you have anything you need to talk about, or just need anything... we'll be here." I'm grateful for this offer, and won't hesitate to take him up on it. the serious stuff over with, our talking turns to lighter subjects, and stays there for fifteen minutes.

After that, the lights power back to full, and the day cycle begins. People begin to move in their bunks, and I ask Blake "would you mind escorting me to the lab? I'm not supposed to go anywhere without a guard"

he chuckles softly "sure, although I'd put my money on you in a fight any day" I cuff him lightly on the back of the head, and he chuckles softly. He does have a sense of humor; it's just not as extravagant as mine or Zeke's. We exit the barracks, and I head to the laboratory again.

As with last time, the artifacts unnerve me, almost on an instinctive level, so I ask Blake "do those artifacts give you any... uneasy feelings?".

He shakes his head in the negative and says "I don't feel anything around these things. Maybe it has something to do with your… condition, I would ask." I nod, and he leaves to the armory.

Hanson hasn't shown up yet, as the Day cycle has just started, so I begin the tests without her, logging into my profile, my DNA having been accepted into the system by Raynor over its protest of "Zerg DNA Detected". Speaking of DNA it may be a good idea to look over mine. that doesn't mean by base pairs, that would take more time than I've been alive, but by proposed function. We have a relatively good understanding of the human Genome by now, and as such have clipped together certain areas of coding that create a certain Phenotype. It appears the statement "you are fifty percent the same as a banana" holds true for infestation as well. Only about three percent variation in genes from when I was human, that's more than enough to be a new species, but still I had figured it would be more than that. Then I realized that Introns had been disabled in the scan. I enable them and the percentage jumps to seven. That makes a little more sense, considering that my metabolism has likely been overhauled, my telomeres lengthened to give me longer life, most of my major organs mutated, and an additional pair of prehensile limbs grown. Unfortunately, that completely messes up the system, as it is set to "human" and "infested Terran" isn't a search parameter.

as I am looking at my genetics, Hanson comes in, and upon seeing me, says "ah, you're already here." I nod absently, still trying to find out what the point of this new gene on Chromosome 5 is. The zerg have really used c-5 to its fullest potential in me, kicking out almost all the introns to make way for new coding. It's the one with the most changes overall, with around 50% of its surface, or three percent of my genetic material, being changed on it. Scientific detachment is a great thing, as it stops me from freaking out when I realize how calmly I just thought that. She comes over and looks at the new gene with me.

"I think that's the coding region for the virus itself" she says, and I mentally kick myself for missing that.

Then I ask "so do you think that mean I'm contagious?" I'd never really thought about it…

"No, the Virus I've already looked over, it's coded to your own cells, and is used to increase mutation. It cannot infect anything not already marked with special receptors on Zerg cells." relieved that I won't be spreading this any time soon, we get down to work, dissecting my changed Genome.

* * *

Raynor stood at the Bridge, looking between the face of Nova, and that of Tosh. He'd been manipulated by Tosh, but the man was trying to bring down the dominion, or so he said. He'd keep a close eye on him, but he would not listen to a dominion Ghost, all chronic liars and manipulators, over him. Besides, it would be good to have a psychic onboard, even one that he didn't fully trust yet could have his uses. Nova gave no promise to help his revolution, only saying that if he didn't do what she said, then Tosh was going to go psychotic and kill him. Once again that goes back to the chronic liars and manipulators argument. His mind made up, he looks first at Tosh "you should have told me what you were really planning, Tosh" then he looks over at Nova, "but I'll take your word over a Dominion Assassin's any day. We've come this far together, may as well see it through."

Frustrated, Nova replies "you've made a poor choice, Mr. Raynor." And cuts the communication.

Tosh, looking pleased, says "I knew I could count on you, brother" in his trademark accent, "now let's go break open new Folsom"

After that, tactics were discussed and a plan arrived at. Tosh would lead, using stealth to infiltrate and sabotage the enemy while Raynor sent in the Mechs to keep the pressure on the dominion. Mechs were more expensive than regular soldiers, but they had the advantage of not costing anything more than minerals if things went south. That said, they did cost more of the omni-useful material, sixty standard units, one unit being what is necessary to replace one Neosteel plate on a Command Center. He may call in real marines to deal with base defense, but he would not be sending them on the attack.

* * *

He watches from the Birds Eye view as Tosh systematically dismantles the defenses in the way of his mechanical soldiers. Realizing how heavily defended the main base is, Raynor begins the construction of nuclear silos. He has deployed four squads of real marines, Epsilon Theta to guard the front lines, Bravo Delta to the first prison block, and the Golf and Sierra squads to his main base of operations.

* * *

Finally, with the help of a siege tank push, and diamondbacks alongside his Mechs, Tosh is able to destroy the main base. Nova hacks into his comm channel one last time to say her parting words, "you just unleashed a nightmare on all of us, Raynor. Heaven help you now."

He cuts her out, and turns his attention to Tosh, as he almost reverently says "and the walls come tumbling down, Be Free, my brothers and sisters, your new life awaits." It was a little melodramatic, but not more than one can expect from him. He calls Matt Horner up for the after action report, and sends a dropship down for Tosh.

* * *

He looks out of his battlecruiser window at the burning wreckage of New Folsom, and as he hears Matt coming up behind him. still looking out, thinking deeply, he says "fifty years, and no one's ever escaped new Folsom, but we broke it open in an afternoon."

Matt responds "I can hardly believe we pulled it off."

As If on cue, and probably waiting for his dramatic entrance, Tosh decloaks and states "you guys did good, now me an' my spectres'll finish the job. We'll kill Mengsk, and burn his dominion to the ground."

Matt, the idealist, decides to argue that point. "defeating Mengsk is just the start, this is about building a better future." He pulls up a prisoner manifest on the holo display board. "Don't you see? We just released every scientist, philosopher or free-thinker who ever challenged Mengsk's rule. That, was our real victory today." Tosh, in a display of annoyance, throws his butterfly knife into the gold overlay. It sticks, sinking into the soft metal.

"You're really that naïve? Tomorrow there'll be a new Mengsk, and another one after that. You're great shining dream of the future, is just an illusion."

Raynor pulls out the knife, closes it, and asks Tosh "So if it's all so bleak, what do you get out of all this?"

"Same thing as you, brother, I don't quit 'till Mengsk is dead" Raynor looks down at the knife, reminded of another operative, one who was not as lucky as the girl in the laboratory with Hanson.

"Vengeance doesn't factor into this, or revolution is about freedom." Raynor walks up, and solemnly puts his hand on Matt's shoulder, stopping him.

He again thinks back to all that he has lost, his wife and son, then Sarah, and finally those he lost because he lost her. "You'll see that better future, matt." He moves away, and hands Tosh's knife back to him. "but it ain't for the likes of us" Raynor walks out of the bridge, his thoughts heavy. He hears the telltale noise of tosh's Cloak engaging behind him.


	6. Chapter 6

**And now the action begins, at least, towards the latter part of the chapter. anyone who can guess John's last name gets an internet cookie. hint: SpecTRe. read and review as always. **

* * *

It is getting late, but unfortunately there's just too much to do and too few hours in a day to do it all. We'd been working most of the day, even through the battle itself. We, Hanson and I have mapped the entirety of chromosome five, which coded for the virus which accelerated mutation within me, most of the information for my wings, as well as some of the new chemicals which accelerated metabolism and strengthened tissue, in addition to its regular functions. Speaking of accelerated metabolic rates, I'm hungry again, even though I'd eaten just two hours previously. Ah the joys of being one of the Zerg. I really don't know what Stettman was doing at the time, but he spent a lot of it poking at the two specimens inside their respective containers.

Finally, the work for today done, I turn my attention to the Artifacts again, they've been giving me a headache for the entire time I've been in here. "Hey, Doctor Hanson, do these things make you feel weird?" I inquire, indicating the artifacts as the object of my inquiry.

"No, they've been completely inert since they came here and I haven't felt anything off of them at all." She answers, also looking at them.

"Are you sure? It's like a pressure at the back of my neck, like… when someone is watching you." Hanson pulls up a diagnostic on the artifacts, and jumps slightly at what she sees.

"They're emitting energy. It's like… could you step away from them?" I do so, and the pressure lessens. "Incredible, they are reacting to your presence. They must be specifically designed to react to Zerg life. If I were to guess, the same thing would happen to a Protoss if they were near these things." I regard the artifacts more carefully,

"and what kind of energy are they emitting?" I ask.

"let's see… they're linking to you somehow… I knew those numbers were off. They've been leaching energy from you. That's why you were so hungry today." With that, I decide that the artifacts are definitely not trustworthy, and so glare at them.

"let's not have me near them then, since we don't know what they're using the energy for." I say. Hanson nods in agreement.

"We have a secondary lab; you've already been to it. I'll just need to finalize the move with Raynor." As she is saying it, the man himself enters the lab.

"Finalize what with me?" he asks, walking over.

"The artifacts are draining energy from me" I explain. "It has something to do with my infestation, apparently. We decided that it would be better to move me away from them to prevent anything bad from happening, either to me, the artifacts, or anything else around here." He looks at them, then back at us,

"Well, you're the experts. If you say that whatever they're doing might not be good, I'll let you move." After that, he looks at Doctor Hanson, and asks "so, were you able to dig up anything on Nova's claims?" she nods, she was researching this while I was eating my second breakfast.

"Honestly, there's no real evidence that Spectres are any more prone to aberrant behavior than ordinary people. A sudden increase in Psionic ability could induce a psychotic break, but Spectres aren't the monsters were we're led to believe. Nova lied to us. But what's more interesting than that is the comparison between the Terrazine we recovered earlier, and some of the compounds we've been mapping here. It seems the Zerg use a similar compound to overcome brain cell destabilization."

Raynor nods, and states "keep up the good work, doc" before leaving, presumably to check up on other matters. The work day ended, and I head back to my barracks, Hanson in tow as usual. I feel as though I know my body a little better now, having seen my genome. There were a couple of surprises in there, like the membrane that could cover my wings spontaneously if it starts coding. It would have been extremely awkward for that to happen without my knowledge. In addition, there have been some things in there which don't seem to have a use. Little bits of code which are not introns, but that don't make any sense. They're coding for garbage for all I can tell. Tomorrow we are actually going to use some of my original DNA in a test to see, in a laboratory controlled environment, how my infestation occurred in the different tissues.

Dave is once again absent from the Barracks. Conspicuously so, it's still early, but most of the team is in the barracks, talking about their training today or what they did for fun after it was over. I move to my computer terminal and log in. I don't use a DNA scanner so it has no objections to me. I log into Galaxy at War, an alternative sci-fi strategy game, and the game that we prefer to play, I get into a group with Zeke and Blake. I say alternative Science fiction because as far as I'm concerned, we're living science fiction right now, at least from a 21st century standpoint. We have hostile aliens, telekinetics in our own society, and live on a space ship. As I suspected, they're ahead of me in points. I growl softly in frustration and type "you know, it's not polite to play while I'm physically unable to join you." I would talk, but they're across the room and this is much easier.

Zeke responds with "Yeah well as they say, "all's fair in love and war" and, if you hadn't gotten captured you wouldn't be in this mess." He apparently doesn't realize how that left him open.

I send "aw, I didn't know you loved me." I hear an audible groan from across the room, and grin.

At that point, Blake sends to both of us "let's just get on with it, shall we?"

* * *

Three games in, and I'm back on top in points. We normally team up, but today I feel like a free for all. My favorite race to play is the Rentoth, whose main strategy is to sneak in behind your defenses and destroy your supply lines, going for the Death by a Thousand Cuts approach. Blake prefers the Xori, for which Zeke and I tease him to no end. In game cannon states that they are a Matriarchal society whose main strength is in preemptive strikes and targets of opportunity. As such all their warriors are female, and conform to the Terran standard of beauty, Very strong early game, but if you can hold them off they become a pushover later. Zeke prefers the Terrans, who in the ethnocentric view of the game's designers are the best all-around race, although they lack specialization in one area. The other two races you can play are the Celans, who are a powerful machine-race who are weak early game, but If you let them build up can crush you, and the Peroi, who almost all fly.

* * *

After the games, I walk over to where they sit huddled over their computers, Zeke watching the replay and trying to find a place where I cheat, and Blake watching the same to find weaknesses in my strategy. I stand behind them, "well, at least you're better fighters than me." I say, trying to console them over their losses.

Zeke looks up and says "better fighters for sure, even in games. I still remember beating you again and again and again in that one third person shooter." What can I say? I can't fire a gun straight in those games; they're not realistic at all. I can aim fine with the MedNan dispenser though.

"You'd better not insult my aim, someday I might be patching you up again, and I might just miss with my surgical laser."

"You wouldn't do that to me, I'm your friend" to which I instinctively use my altered voice box to issue a very Zerg-like hiss. He jumps involuntarily at the sound, as do quite a few other people around him. I blush a little at the unexpected noise, and they uneasily return to what they were doing.

"well… that's new" I say,

"No joke. I just about crapped myself there." He responds.

"There's a lot of stuff I don't know yet." I say, looking down at my clawed hand.

"Don't worry," Blake says comfortingly "you'll get through it. After all, if you didn't I'd have to spend the rest of my tour with just Zeke, and that's not something I would wish on my worst enemy." I feel a little better at that.

"seriously though, what I said this morning still stands. if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask, we're going to help you through this. I promise"

The lights dim, I catch it this time, and everyone begins getting ready for sleep. I don't want to ruin any more clothes then I have to, and so just fall into bed as I am. Sleep won't come though. That strange noise proves just how much of a stranger I still am in my own body. I'm not sinking into despair or anything like that, I'm just unhappy about how very little I know. Perhaps tomorrow's studies will shed some additional light on it. It takes a long time, but at last, I fall asleep.

* * *

I feel much better in the morning, no nightmares wake me up and I feel refreshed and revitalized, if a little hungry. I look at the orders for today, and my good mood drops right out of the airlock. "Alpha squadron will report to dropship 122 for deployment." Deployment? I'm not allowed to leave the ship. There it is though, in bolded letters. The second line has it as well. I don't know what this means. Well, I know what it means, but I don't know why it happened. A lot of the other faces appear to have the same amount of shock. It's directed at me through the deployment, though, "we're supposed to trust a Zerg?" Dave cries out. I never did see him return to the Barracks last night, but he's here now.

Andrew looks at him angrily and says "no, you're supposed to trust Julia"

To which he cries "it's the same thing! How can you not see? You've all taken a demon into your council and it's going to betray you the first chance it gets! Julia is Dead, and you won't admit it!"

Andrew gets dangerous at that point. "Are you questioning my orders, Soldier? Think carefully before you answer, for it may well mean your career if you do." he backs off then, looking as though he was one step away from an enraged meltdown. This kind of behavior is why I feel we shouldn't be going. Soldiers need to trust the people at their backs. If Dave doesn't believe I'm trustworthy, he will be unable to perform as well as he normally does, and if I'm worried about what Dave is going to do, then I will be likewise unable to perform.

Regardless of the objections, we are still lined up for deployment at 0900 hours. Raynor greets us as he does all squads that are going to be deployed, and before our CMC armor is on. "here's the brief. We're going to get started with the next phase of our little rebellion. Your mission is to guard our base of operations while we intercept Dominion supply convoys on Tarsonis. You'll be aided by John S. here," Raynor indicates a Spectre operative, "all squads are being assigned a Spectre now that we have the tech to train them. Now, everyone but Julia, go get in your regular suits. Julia, we've got something special for you." They walk off, Andrew already trying to talk to our new member.

Raynor and I walk towards the front of the armory, where Swann awaits. I ask "sir, wasn't I confined to the ship? Why am I going on this mission?"

He looks at me and says "well, you've got Hanson to thank for that. She was up all night running through your Genome, don't know why, but she says that she's discovered why you're still sane, and she says it's permanent. I trust Hanson enough to believe her on something this important, so I'm letting you go on the mission. Besides, Alpha squad's one of our best, and we need all the help we can get on this one."

I'm surprised that Hanson stayed up that late, but grateful for the gesture. However, "but sir, my squad still doesn't trust me well enough-" I start

"Well, that should be helped by this mission as well, the only way to really build trust like this is with actions. You treat them right, and they'll come around soon enough."

We get up to Swann, and he greets Raynor and I, "hey cowboy, is this who you were talking about?" Raynor nods and Swann speaks up "Julia, nice to see you again. Heard what happened." He shudders exaggeratedly, "anyway, heard you needed a new suit to help with your eh… condition. So, here's what I got." He indicates a specialized suit, "it's more armor-plated, but that's just to make it more valuable than what you've already got. It's got ports here for your wings to fit through, and can come apart easy if it gets damaged and you need out. I included a sidearm as well, don't know why they don't all have that. That said it's still only got the basic stuff for a medic." I nod a thank you to him, and step inside the power armor, which clicks around my frame and powers on. I test the different functions, satisfied that I am allowed a full range of motion and that the HUD is good to go.

Then I comm Swann and say "all systems check out. Thanks"

He says "Hey, no problem. It's not very often I get a special order for this stuff, it's nice to have to think outside the box every once in a while" with that, I rejoin my squad.

I link up my HUD to theirs and we all climb inside the Special Operations Dropship we were provided. We hit atmo, a sensation I am never entirely pleased with, and then are at the base. The Marines move to the natural choke points, two on each one, and move behind cover. There are eight of them and only two entryways, so that leaves four marines and the medics to cover the rest of the base until the Mech soldiers can start operating, and we get some bunkers going. Our resident Spectre operative has vanished, probably to do whatever it is that psionic warrior assassins do. Sure enough, some of the SCVs, including a suit which has Blake's brother's symbol on it, start up autofabricators. Once they're finished, the last four marines split up two and two as well, the four marines per doorway, and one medic per group, pile into the bunker. Now comes my least favorite part of the mission, the part my squad has so eloquently dubbed "hurry up and wait".


	7. Chapter 7

**sorry for the late update folks, but this is just Sunday for me. I have an obligation during the time I would normally be writing, and so will just be publishing later on this particular day of the week. **

**This is a very important chapter, although it's rather small comparatively. Izwan, most of the crew she has seen, aside from the ones really highlighted in the story, either trusts Raynor enough to allow her to stay onboard anyway, or is simply waiting to see what happens. cementing trust in an actual combat situation is one of the main goals of this mission as well. as for your final comment in that paragraph, she's still relying on her human training a bit more than her new body, and therefore does not yet have her full potential. in addition she is acting as a combat medic, rather than a frontline soldier, which makes it a little harder to do any real damage. there is a reason Dave distrusts and hates Julia, and I have begun to expand upon it here. I will fully explain the situation in the following chapter. **

**please read and review, I am starving for more input as to my story. **

* * *

"Get Down!" another marine, new to our squad, named Matthias yelled, as the attack came again. The dominion forces were trying to push us out with all the forces they had. Matthias was the CO for this bunker, along with another green soldier, Mark, Zeke, Blake and I. this was the best arrangement possible in the eyes of Andrew, and thus he set us up this way. He would keep an eye on Dave, and besides that he was guarding the other entrance. The sixth firing slot in the bunker, I had to take one, and was using that pistol when I wasn't treating stimpack crashes, was taken by a Mech soldier. If the bunker fell, the human soldiers would retreat, while the Mech held the line. Slugs from the Gauss rifles of the enemy, along with heavier attacks from the Marauders' punisher grenades, ping against our Neosteel-constructed bunker. In response, my team fires their weapons, aiming for the glass faceplate of the marine's CMC armor. A few of their number go down, although unfortunately they were all most likely Resocs, and the rest of the forces retreat to prepare for another attack.

For the first while after I had entered the bunker on this burned-out wreck of a world everything had been quiet. Battlefield protocol was in place, so conversations were kept to a minimum to prevent the enemy from sneaking up on us. Then we had our first attack. Frankly I was unsure as to how I would react, given my current condition. That is especially true considering the enlarged and modified Adrenal glands in my body which would likely provoke a Fight or Flight response. Military training won out, however, and I was able to keep my cool, although it was decidedly harder than it was before the change. Swann's innovation and attention to detail were amazing when it came to this suit. He had apparently been given rough estimates of my changed figure, and so was able to plan accordingly. It was modified to accommodate for the ever-accursed heels I have been forced to wear for the foreseeable future, and was spacious enough in places to allow for my natural armor, while still padding me completely to prevent as much impact shock as possible. The pistol I was given is hugely different from the ones I had seen Reapers using. The thing was dubbed a hand-cannon and fires a total of six shots before it needs to be reloaded. It packs enough of a punch to puncture the faceplate of a marine with one hit, and then have enough force left over to breach the back side of his armor when it is done. Its kickback is almost intolerable, even with the suit to compensate, however, and it is anything but accurate at long distance.

After the attack, the Diamondbacks we had gathered zoomed back into the high ground we had conquered. Those hover-tanks looked formidable, sleek and almost Protoss styled with the ominous rail-guns on top. Each driver was also a Hellion pilot, because the controls were similar enough to each other that the trade over was easy. The same thing had happened when we switched from vultures to Hellions, all three using roughly the same system. The maneuverable vessels drop off their loot, and then submit themselves to repairs. They've done the same thing three times now, going off to intercept a train, and coming back looking increasingly beat-up. last time they actually left early to clean up a set of bunkers being deployed around the tracks. I sit down further on the bench provided in the Bunker, and set about clearing up the Stimpack crashes on the marines, who were finally coming down from their last jolt. I move around inside the small building to each firing lane, administering the chemicals based upon what I see and what the readings tell me.

This is a purely Terran exercise, and one that I enjoy, seeing the looks of gratitude on the Marine's faces as I clear up the dreadful haze that settles over the mind after exposure to the dangerous chemicals. The chemicals I administer basically reboot the Marines' metabolism, and prevent dependency from forming. In the early days of the last war, they didn't have medics like me to keep people from dying, and as such we had nearly twice the combat fatalities, and a fourth of those were Stimpack related. Even everything I can do will only slow the eventual destabilization from frequent mistreatment, and that is why a specific squad of real marines only goes out every two or three missions. Raynor doesn't work these men to death. The Dominion, on the other hand, doesn't care about the losses of Resocced marines and other cannon fodder. They also detest the use of mechanized infantry, sticking with the flesh and blood troops. Frankly I'm glad they do, having a mechanized legion coming down on your heads is second only to having a thousand and one Zerg doing the same thing in terms of terrifying. Blake whispers as I administer his treatment "when do you think this will be over?" I don't know. This world probably brought back some very bad memories for him, and I feel sympathy for my friend. He is a marine, and well into his thirties, but some things will make even the most hardened men break, the invasion of Tarsonis is one of them. I pat his shoulder and whisper back "soon" before heading back to my post.

The dominion attacks again soon after I finished treating the Marines I wish they would stay away for a few minutes so I don't have to keep redoing my actions. Nevertheless, the order to stim comes, and Matthias gives out an audible sigh as the Stimulants enter his body. I note that down, knowing he was likely growing addicted in spite of my best efforts, and I would need to recommend withdrawal help when we get back. This wave includes a freaking siege tank, and its attacks hammer against the bunker powerfully. Some of the SCVs come over to reinforce joints on the bunker and engage its automated repair systems, hoping to fix the damage before the bunker deconstructs itself. Bunkers can actually take a lot more stress before they collapse than they do, however to do so would be to put the lives of the marines inside in danger. Like a racecar from earth, when enduring fatal damage, these bunkers actually use the energy to force themselves apart, redirecting force away from the marines inside. That leaves us open to attack, of course, but it's better than them caving in and killing us. The bunker does this before the SCVs can reach us, and as planned, the mech holds its ground in the ruins of the bunker while the living troops escape. Our twin bunker has also fallen, and the Diamondbacks are approaching our position to reinforce us. Seeing this, I put shots into the fire support for the Siege Tank, managing to cut down two marines. I only did this because my HUD stated that no one in my group was injured. The Mech fell beneath a Crucio cannon blast, and it turns its attention towards us. The weapon primes expanding to full as the tank transforms into an artillery unit capable of demolishing entire platoons. I watch in horror, unable to stop the impending destruction which would likely kill at least one of us.

Before It is able to complete its priming, it is hit by a half-dozen magnetically accelerated rounds from the Diamondbacks, The daredevil pilots whooping and cheering as the structural integrity collapses and the entire superstructure devolves into a ball of fire. Their heavy fire support gone, the rest of the Dominion forces are routed in short order. I breathe out deeply, grateful that they were able to make it in time. One of the hover-tanks swerves around our unit, flaring dramatically before pulling to a stop. The hatch opens, and Zeke's sister, Arcia Hopewell, a lithe, excitable girl with fiery red hair, eternally excited green eyes, tan skin, and the ability to drive just about every land vehicle known to Terrans, and possibly protoss as well, although she's still tight lipped about that episode, climbs out of it. An SCV begins exchanging parts, and Arcia runs towards us. She yells "hey Zeke, did you see me take down that tank? That's why you should have joined us vehicle specialists, we get the big guns." Arcia had been trying to convince Zeke to leave the marines for quite some time. I personally think it's some misplaced desire to protect him, as the marines, and consequently us medics, are sent in first to just about every conflict. Zeke professes that he's too good looking to die, I jokingly figure it's just because the reaper doesn't want to put up with his wisecracks on the way down, but, however you explain it, he gets out of almost every conflict relatively unscathed. Zeke answers back "you should come join the Marines, sis, we've got all the guns we need." He says as he hefts the c-14 gauss rifle, "that fancy tank of yours can't even shoot up" she grins and says "don't need to, that's what I've got my Wraith for" oh yeah, I forgot, she pilots a Wraith too, freaking prodigies. She turns around very dramatically, and runs back to her now repaired vehicle.

I respond to the exchange with a sigh, and turn back to the bunker being reconstructed as I watch. The raw material for the construction is provided by the loot the diamondbacks brought back from their latest escapade, the minerals are put into an Autofabricator, which the SCV then manipulates into the outer shell of the bunker. The inner firing chamber did not have to be replaced, which saved on costs, and soon we pile back inside.

* * *

The Diamondbacks are out on another mission, the eighth train that was being sent out, and everything seems quiet. Then an emergency transmission from the other bunker is heard, "-eed assistance, repeat, we need assistance. This is Andrew Cole, they're attacking all-out on my position." We receive the order to go aid him, as we are the only competent force in the area, and exit the bunker, rushing to the aid of our CO. it's a warzone outside, and by that I mean more than it was before. The dominion has completely breached their barricade, and is now being met by very little resistance. My unit and I rush to the aid of the rest of our Squad, but not before one of our new recruits is cut down by a siege tank blast. Blake shoots down its firing chamber while it repositions, and the chain reaction detonates the unspent ammunition, destroying the vehicle, meanwhile I am repairing the damage to the suits, and the people inside them.

I only count three men holding the line when we reach it, but I can see Tim's suit, horribly mangled, near where the bunker fell. The three living ones are in cover, as the enemy continues to pound the area. I rush over and help out with the injuries sustained by the surviving members of our squad, Andrew, Nathan and Richard. I reach Andrew last, and he indicates the bunker's remains, "Dave is still down there." He says over the communicator, his faceplate closed. My throat constricts, "he's still alive, I'm going to try pushing forward to him." A bullet whistles by our cover, I nod, knowing that we never leave a man behind, and hoping against hope that my helping him will let him trust me a little more. "Oorah" came the general response, and we move partially from cover to take shots at the force assaulting us. Eventually we thin them out, and begin advancing. I stand behind the main line, now concerned with treating wounds instead of fighting.

Finally, we reach the Bunker again, and I jump inside the wreck. Dave is pinned beneath a beam which had not blown clear. He was wounded in several places, including one nasty gut wound. I lift the beam off him, and begin treating his wounds. When he sees who is treating him, he flinches and backs away, unable to do much from the blood loss, but also unwilling to accept aid from me. I glare at him and say "hold still, I'm trying to save your life." I say, unused to someone giving me this much resistance. "no…" he coughs blood "don't lie to me, Zerg. I… I'm dead anyway, especially with you as my caretaker. You'll take my life," he coughs uncontrollably, as I continue applying the lifesaving bandages, when he controls it, he continues "and you'll go back to your infiltration unhindered. I… I only wish… I was good enough… to stop you… before you hurt someone." I look at him and say "if I were going to kill you, would I really start by dressing your wounds?" "have… have to make it look convincing… so there's no… suspicion." I glare in frustration, "what will it take to make you believe that I'm on your side?" he coughs, and answers "nothing. The Zerg… they don't let people come back home. They… they're too good at… what they do." I shake my head at this "while I'm still not certain what happened on that asteroid, I know because of the tests I've performed that I'm still me, now stop fighting and let me fix you" he laughs then, a wheezing, death rattle like sound, "you… really are good. You… act like her… somewhat at least. So… kind. If I… didn't know… it was an act… could almost swear…" finished with the wounds, I look him directly in the eyes, "I am me, I always have been. This isn't an act." And with that, I sedate him for the ride back. His last word before drifting into the unconscious is "maybe." After that, the Diamondbacks return with their loot, a Confederate Adjutant. We load into the transports, I with the unconscious Dave to make sure he remains stable, and we head back to the Hyperion.


	8. Chapter 8

**Very important chapter here in the scheme of things, and the second to last one in the current story Arc, after this it will settle down for a while as I build up to Korhal and later Char. **

**Khazin, as promised, here is your Internet Cookie. have fun with it. it's only a minor reference, don't worry, the name's just a little something fun for me, surprisingly though, he's turning out to be a much bigger character then I ever had planned. if things go a certain way, he may be much, and I mean much more prominent in the storyline. **

**Read and Review. I may put up a poll next chapter to deal with something expositioned in this one, **

* * *

I had done what I could for him, but I'm a combat medic, the real work would be done by the ship's surgeons. All I can do now is wait. Dave was not someone who I would be concerned over given his treatment of me, going beyond simple mistrust and into blind, closed-minded anger, but right now he isn't Dave, he is my patient, and I worry over them all the time. 'There is nothing I can do now', I tell myself again, I can simply hope that my assistance in the field was enough to allow the surgeons to help him. Right now, I am in the secondary laboratory with Hanson. My CMC armor is stored in the armory, and I am just in my normal clothing. I look over the results from Hanson's tests, the results which allowed me to go on that mission, and probably save the lives of some of my Squad. They are protein chains, formed from the "junk data" we have been seeing inside of my cells. I watch in awe as one of them, labeled HEI 3 is exposed inside a cell to the Zerg virus. This protein, or more accurately a large group thereof, attach to the cell membrane, and deny the viral material entrance. This is great, I think, it's something that can stop the virus in its tracks. Then, though, the cell is exposed to a chemical which induces mitosis, and the Zerg virus slips inside, causing mutations and corruption of the genetic code. I immediately grasp the significance of this discovery. Neurons do not undergo mitosis, and therefore are safe. Because my genetic material contains the code for this protein, my nerve cells cannot be repurposed.

"well? Do you know what this means?" Hanson asks from behind me.

I nod, "you were right. So long as the Zerg don't evolve a way around this, I'm safe." The Zerg virus only repurposes cells of the same type for a specific job. It cannot turn a muscle cell into a nerve cell, or a stomach-wall cell into a thyroid cell. The alterations in my brain stem are easily explained as well, seeing as that could simply be my body's reaction to the new input, rather than Zerg conditioning. "Have you isolated the codons responsible?" I ask.

"yes, this is actually a highly distributed polygene, although any other variation of the codons involved appears to produce nonfunctioning introns as opposed to high functioning exons, in other words" I finish for her

"I got extremely lucky."

She nods "yes, and that's not the only unique adaptation I've found in your genetics."

To that I inquire "wasn't I supposed to be here for these tests?"

"yes, well, I was about to go back to my room after you left when I noticed something on the data we were reviewing earlier. I decided I'd take a look, and lost track of time." I shake my head, and then refocus on the real topic,

"so, when do you think this will be ready? I'd assume you have a vector to implant cells," she pulls up another page, this one detailing a lab-created Retroviral Vector which would be injected into patients who would receive the genes.

"very soon, I've used your original DNA from the records, so they won't accidentally be infested by exposure." We look over the details, it wasn't perfect, there were still the physical effects, but with this "cure" as incomplete as it may be, Infestation will be a much less dreaded fate.

* * *

After finishing up the theoretical cure, the actual Retroviral Vector wouldn't be ready for a while, I return to my barracks. Matthias is currently receiving withdrawal aid, which is one of the more painful treatments, Dave is in surgery, and will not be ready for active duty for the rest of the week at least. Tim's girlfriend Madeline is in here, quietly mourning her loss. She's an ensign on the ship, and not one of the ground forces. I feel sorry for her, Tim was a nice guy, competent in the field and very good at what he did. loss is a part of every war, but that doesn't make it feel any better to the ones that have to live with it. Drained physically and emotionally, I fall onto my bunk, although it is still forty five minutes to night cycle, and drift into a deep sleep.

* * *

Today would be a day off. The Squad is still getting over the extended use of Stimpacks, never a pretty sight, like a hangover, but worse. Our reinforcements are being decided, I feel sorry for Tim's friends and family, as well as Mark's, his stay with us was very brief, as he was one of the reinforcements for our old squad, who never came back from Umoja. Most importantly, we weren't even doing any fighting today, just picking up the Decrypted adjutant from Deadman's Port, the one place in reality that matches the description "you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy."

I hear footfalls behind me, and turn around to see the Spectre, John, decloaking. He looks like a normal enough guy, although the warning about a possible psychotic break still remains at the forefront of my mind, which considering he's a Teep, or telepath, if not a teek, or telekinetic, is not necessarily a good thing. He chuckles at my thoughts, "Don't worry," he says, "if I can trust an infested Terran, you can trust a psychic." Alright, my situation considered I might be a little hypocritical when I worry about his mental state, but that doesn't mean my worries all go away. On top of that, the fact that he's reading my mind like an open book isn't comforting.

"Sorry, not used to my thoughts being observed, but I didn't mean any offense to you in particular" I respond, without anger at the mind-reading aspect, that's not something you can always control from what I've heard.

"None taken" he answers, then regards me fully, "forgive my curiosity, but are you psionic?"

I nod, "we think it's why I was abducted rather than just killed. It's not very high, quite literally only about a two point one, I wasn't any use to the dominion even as one of their psychic investigators."

He looks me straight in the eyes, "how would you like to become one of us? I can sense something in you, maybe the Zerg unlocked some kind of latent potential, but there is something, some" he searches for the word "pressure, building inside you. I fear that if we do not control it, it will escape eventually, in a way that may not be healthy for you or others." I believe him, but I don't know If that's the life I want. I've always put helping people ahead of hurting them, that's why I went into the medic program. He says I have untapped potential Psionically, but that doesn't mean I have to use it as a weapon. On the other hand, if I don't, and it costs someone their life, could I live with it, knowing I could have done more?

I think it over and then say "I don't know yet. That's a large decision, and not one I'm sure I'm ready to make yet. I will think it over, and when I come to a decision, I will come talk to you".

He acknowledges my hesitation and answers "I wasn't expecting commitment right away, just think it over." I agree with a quick nod, and he vanishes into the air with a burst of red light.

I want to shower again, hoping to get some of the grime from the last mission off me. When I look into my drawer to find clothing, I am surprised by what greets me. They look a lot like my old outfits, but they aren't. it appears that my outfits have been replaced by ones with holes already made in the back. They are of a stronger material as well, thankfully. Whoever did this, I'm extremely grateful to them. I take one of the outfits with me, and quickly clean myself off. I return to my Barracks afterwards, and sit down to find something to do. I see a message to me in the email from Hanson and open it. Inside is a small message, "we've had a complication. Come as soon as possible."

I rush down to the Laboratory, Zeke in tow. When I arrive, Hanson is worrying over some reports. "I'm glad you've come. We've lost contact with Haven" she says upon hearing my arrival. I walk up to the screen, and see an error message on the communications screen.

"Are you sure it isn't a glitch on our end?" I inquire.

"No, the signal is being actively blocked. Something is very wrong here. Haven is on the edge of Protoss space, but I thought it would be safe."

She looks very worried. "the colonists might be infested, or the Protoss might think they are." I say, believing it to be the most likely possibility.

"I think that's what's going on. Our treatment is almost ready, Julia. Even if they are infested, the Protoss need to know they can be saved."

I nod, and say "the cure only works on those not already Infested, though, doesn't it?"

she agrees, and says solemnly "there will be some we can't save, but we can save those who aren't fully converted yet."

At that point, I look her in the eye and say "Hanson, what if it doesn't work?"

Her face grows more determined "it has to work, there is no other choice." I agree, she's taken on the same mentality I did when I first found out my condition, operate under the assumption that everything is going to work.

"Let's go tell Raynor" I say, she answers

"I've already told him, he'll call us up as soon as we're in the system. Until then, let's keep working on this cure"

* * *

Sure enough, hours later Raynor calls us up. he looks weary, and is talking to Matt when we enter the room. The last mission didn't go over as smoothly as we had thought, I don't know most of the details, but we were at Deadman's rock for twice as long as was estimated.

Matt says "We're almost to Haven, but there's still been no contact from - Sir, there's a protoss fleet holding in orbit! They're disrupting all communications to the surface - and it looks like they're powering up their main weapons!"

Hanson cries out "Jim! You have to stop this!" Raynor looks at her, then back to Matt.

"Matt, open a channel to the protoss. Let's see how diplomatic they're feelin'." He patches us through, and a Female Protoss in battle armor appears on the screen. Her Psionic communication emanates from the Communicator.

"En Taro Tassadar, James Raynor. I am Executor Selendis. Your bravery and service to Aiur are known to us."

He responds in kind, "En Taro Tassadar, Selendis. Listen - with all due respect, your fleet needs to pull back. The people on Haven are no threat to you." She shakes her head in the negative, and explains.

"Our Observers detected Zerg hive spores infesting the colonists. They must be purified. If you wish to undertake this mission in our stead, we will permit it." Hanson steps forward then.

"Jim, some of my people are infested but you can't let the protoss just destroy them all! We've developed a treatment for the virus. It will stop full Infestation".

Selendis argues "The only cure for zerg infestation is purification by fire. You know this to be true, James Raynor." I then step forward, and an exclamation of shock is heard from the Protoss woman.

"I beg to differ" I say, staring defiantly into her eyes.

"what manner of abomination is this? You have let an approximation of the Queen of blades onto your vessel. Explain yourself, James Raynor."

"Julia's been on my side since the Brood War. She was captured by the Zerg en route to our forces. Due to something in her genetic code, the Zerg weren't able to override her brain. The good doctor here has been finding a way to expand this to others."

Selendis splutters "this… cannot be. It is obviously a trick of the Zerg, Raynor. You cannot allow her to deceive you. This is even more proof that the colony must be eradicated. If you will not join me in this purification then I must deem you beyond salvation."

Jim responds back "I ain't gonna stand by while you wipe out a whole colony, Selendis. Not while there's still a chance we can save 'em."

She looks saddened, and then responds "then we shall honor the man you once were, and not what you have become." She cuts the communication.

"Thank you Jim, thank you so much. The cure won't be full, they'll end up like Julia, but it is a cure, my people don't deserve to be wiped out."

"just get your cure ready to deploy, we'll do the rest."

* * *

Edit: forgot to say I don't own any of the references to other games in here, but I don't


	9. Chapter 9

**And "Act 1" as I have now dubbed it, is complete. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter, I had fun writing it. **

**Turtwing 163, thanks, I've enjoyed writing it :)**

**please read and review, I want and need the input. **

* * *

The Cure is being deployed. Raynor's forces are holding out against the Protoss, although the relentless march of the Purifier has removed two colonial bases from existence. I'm not concerned with the Battle, however. I am standing at the head of a long line of colonists underneath a medical tent with the words "treatment here" on it. Those who are fully infested were put down, but the rest have been split into three groups, those that need immediate treatment, which they have received or are receiving, and are currently undergoing final infestation, we can only wait and see whether those will keep their minds. The second group is listed as "at risk", they are the ones who have begun showing early symptoms, but will not fully transform for a while yet. Those have second priority on the Gene treatment. Then there is this group, the largest of the three, labeled "not at risk" they are the ones not showing symptoms, and they receive whatever is left over after those who are actively being converted receive theirs. The amazing thing is, these people don't seem to care that I myself am infested, as they have been informed about what the cure will and will not do. Most of them just look grateful when I give them the cure. I volunteered to hand out the cure, along with Hanson and Matt Horner. Hanson herself began showing symptoms a few minutes ago, and so received a treatment. The Retrovirus is being made as fast as it can in our labs, and there should be more than enough to give to everyone. Because this virus, as in the one we used as the sheath for our own code, can only enter into Nerve cells to begin with, it will not be spread along the entire body. It was also incredibly resilient in its wild form, with the body's natural defenses barely able to keep up, which should reduce the risk of rejection.

A man breaks away from the main line, and runs towards the "at risk" line, barely able to keep himself upright. He seems to be on the verge of throwing up, and is shuddering uncontrollably. Why he was in my line in the first place I have no idea, but Hanson sprints towards him, knowing that he is about to turn. She doesn't reach him in time, however, and Carapace bursts from his body. At that point, the Marines guarding the line open fire, knowing nothing can be done. He falls to the ground, dead, and the line begins to become more agitated. The Marines struggle to retain a semblance of order, but the terror in these people spreads faster than the Zerg virus ever could. Those in the back begin to push forward, and those in the front begin yelling incoherently. This isn't good, a mob of people terrified of what is happening and without the training to overcome their base instincts. All they know is that Salvation is at the end of this line, and so they need to get there as fast as possible. A guard shouts out over the pandemonium "there is Treatment enough for everyone, if you are experiencing symptoms, go to the At Risk or High Risk line depending upon their severity. If you are not, be patient, we will reach you eventually!" He does little to calm the writhing mass of humanity begging for protection, however. The situation is growing out of hand, I'm still handing out Treatments, and have been joined by others to help diffuse the terror in these people, but it's not going fast enough, and they are growing desperate.

The situation has gone from bad to worse. We are out of Treatments, all across the table, there are none left, and the newest shipment is still fifteen minutes away. We try to keep the people calm, but now people are growing from simply agitated, to violent. People have begun trying to share needles, trying to squeeze a little more out of one that has already been used. Such is the terror these people are facing. Anyone who has one, is now a target to some of the more aggressive individuals, the Survivors, in under five minutes the situation has changed from slightly afraid and hopeful, to terrified and aggressive. Finally, a gunshot is heard over the cacophony, and it quiets. Everyone turns to see Raynor himself standing there, his pistol aimed into the air, and still smoking from the bullet he had fired. "now, y'all better calm down, we're doing this as fast as we can, and what you're doing here ain't helping anyone." He puts down the pistol says "thanks" and walks towards the head of the line, where we are standing, waiting for the next shipment to arrive. After that, a semblance of order finally returns to the proceedings.

"thanks for that" I say, "it was getting out of hand, and someone might have gotten hurt."

Raynor is standing next to me, having already checked up on the other two. "not a problem, it looked like you needed some help getting these folks to calm down."

After he says this, I ask "aren't you supposed to be stopping the Protoss advance?"

He shakes his head "we've beaten 'em back. Selendis wasn't happy about it though, said she'd bring it up with Artanis."

I nod absently, "hopefully they will see that we're telling the truth".

He then looks at me differently and says "you know it's not gonna be that easy, we all got burned real bad in the Brood War, and the Protoss can hold a grudge like almost nobody else."

I sigh, "it's frustrating to be blamed at every turn for something that you didn't do, but I understand their concerns. At least, I understand them up to the point where it blinds them to any new evidence." We're quiet for a while after that, until the new shipment comes in via Dropship, at which point I say "well, I'd better get back to work." He nods, and walks off.

* * *

The line has dwindled to almost nothing, after three more near-shortages, and a lot of time and effort. All of the High-Riskers, and some of the At-Riskers have transformed, and are currently exploring their new forms. An interesting phenomenon occurred as we investigated this. It appears that most of them were able to decide for themselves certain attributes of their new form. For example, most people wanted their face to be clear of any new growths, and almost without exception, that was the case. After we learned this, we announced it to the general population, and the results were astounding.

Although none of them appear fully human, most have developed more humanoid characteristics than is normally seen among infested, in addition, they seem to be more adapted to the jobs they had as a human then to war, those who were farmers gained less in the way of natural weaponry, but more strength and endurance which would help them in their duties. The researchers' fingers grew more supple, allowing them more dexterity in their work, improved reaction time caused by muscles increased response to any stimulus from the brain, and many other adaptations. Among marines, the transformation gave them the most hardened carapace, hand-eye coordination, strength, as well as the strongest natural weapons in the Zerg arsenal. Hanson herself when she transformed, was given the researcher's adaptations, in addition to a head completely clear of any changes. Even her hair has not changed. I'm not certain what this means, but it is interesting to note, and is one more example of the amazing adaptability of the Zerg. Even through this, however, every single person was given defenses and weapons by the changes, leaving this possibly the most heavily Militarized Terran colony. Finally, the last vial is given out, and I move to begin packing up the station we are at.

The reception of the change amongst the population does not even begin to be described by the word "varied". Some people revile their new forms, and are unwilling to be seen by their family and friends in the form of a "monster." Others have seen it as anything from a stroke of good luck, to a blessing from heaven. The only thing that can be certain of the response is that everyone reacts differently, although most are grateful to have kept their minds and personalities intact. Those the least affected are the children, they get over the fact that they are now different very quickly, and almost immediately begin using their enhanced abilities to play games and get into trouble. The Raiders are moving out of the colony, giving over the defense and maintenance to the local militia. The Protoss will likely come back, but if and when they do, these people will be ready.

* * *

"Here with UNN, this is Donny Vermilion, we've got good news and bad news for you tonight. The good news is that the influx of refugees has slowed, as the various fringe-worlders have found new planets on which to settle. For more, we go to Kate Lockwell."

"is the feed live? Oh, um hi Donny, well, as you said many of the refugees are starting new colony worlds. Unfortunately, these worlds have become prime targets for Zerg forces looking to beef up their ground armies. As such, many of the colonists have become Infested, a process in which one of our own is turned into one of them. I'm reporting live from a ship above the world of Haven, The target of one of these attacks. On this world, however, which has since claimed independence from the Dominion, a partial cure was distributed to the population."

"so the Dominion has discovered a way to combat this insidious attack?"

"um, no. s-"

"you heard it here first, folks, our Dominion scientists taking the fight to the Zerg on the molecular level."

The scene then cuts to commercial. I sigh, and lean back against my chair. "I'm surprised they even reported on that." I say, turning from the screen to Zeke, who is sitting next to me. "

They had to say something, I guess. That Donny guy sure loves his pro-dominion spin though, cutting her off when she was about to say who really did it."

I chuckle, "yeah, well, what can you expect from the state-sponsored media?" Zeke had been watching, and he invited me over when he saw this story. Hanson is staying on with us, hoping to help any other colonists with this new cure as well. After Haven, the last doubts about me have disappeared, thankfully, and I'm allowed to walk around without a guard. We picked up several other Infested from haven, who wanted to join up with us, so I'm less of an oddity now. We have received our reinforcements, a medic named Angelique, and a marine named Thomas. Both are from haven, although neither was exposed to the Virus, and therefore are still human. Now, I can hopefully get some real time off, no hurrying to find a cure for an entire colony, just relaxing.

* * *

Or maybe not, I honestly thought I would be getting some time off, but that is not meant to be, apparently. I've been called upon to distribute the Treatment to the people in our Barracks, and so had to pull myself out of my comfortable position, and go down to the secondary Laboratory. Hanson has officially moved in here now, because she's Zerg too now, and so the artifact drains her. I get the Treatment, and head back to my barracks with orders to distribute it, and observe them for the next five hours. That's unfortunate because those hours happen to fall within the ship's Night cycle. It could be worse, but it's still annoying. I head back, and distribute it, and settle in for a sleepless night.

* * *

None of my squadmates had a bad response to the treatment, so the worst one off is me. I'm still required to be awake at the regular time, in spite of the fact that it only gave me three hours of sleep. Tiredness apparently affects me more than it should, as for the first time since I've gotten them; I actually trip on my high heels. Note to self, never stay up this late if you can help it. It's not good for you. Of course, it was compounded by my recurring nightmares. They've been sapping my strength. Thankfully today's workload is rather light, orienting the new additions to our squad, the day passes without incident, or anything really to report.

* * *

The next day I am feeling better, the fatigue left after a good, and blessedly dreamless, night of sleep. for my assignment, I am to report to the armory for a Physical Testing exercise. They've decided to test all the Infested, to get a good idea as to what our strength level is. Before it wasn't necessary, as I was the only one, now that we've picked up more though, it suddenly is. I therefore report to the Armory for the assignment.

Hanson and about ten other recruits are there as well. They run us through a grueling set of exercises, sprints twice as long as I had to do as a human, larger weights, and all around just more, however my body takes this as a professional challenge, and I'm able to complete the course quickly. This is the first time I've pressed my body as hard as it can go since the change, and it springs to excel. I am at the head of the group, but all of us have vastly improved scores over the last recorded ones we had as humans. The Sprints were surprisingly easy for me, as I let instinct take over. If I had concentrated on it, it would have been a lot harder.

There was a conflict that day in the Valhalla facility. Other marine squads took over, and we were able to watch the mission from a "commander's post" which is a bird's-eye view of the area. I watched as that giant machine of death, the Odin, tore through the bases. When the wraith pilots, including Arcia, stumble upon that gigantic battlecruiser, however, I feel more than a little worried for her. True to form, though, she flies around the missiles, dodging expertly. The behemoth, known as the "Loki" goes down, and we watch the remaining bases fall, cheering when the nuclear missile hits the last one.


	10. Chapter 10

**Thank you all for your reviews. I've decided not to do a poll, one story branch is preferable to the other in my mind and I'm running with that one. I've also tried to tie up Dave's arc here, but if you would like to see a bit more in depth what happened and why I would be glad to oblige. **

**Turtwig, thanks, I thought it would make sense to have them adapt to their occupation, rather than just making soldiers when the Swarm isn't around to guide their evolution. **

**Penstriker, thanks, hearing stuff like that makes me feel good about my work :) **

**Izwan, what i'm trying to do with the jump between missions is, there are some missions this squad will be taking part in, those are the ones i'm going to be focused on, and then there are the ones where they are recuperating or something else is going on. as good as those missions are, I will not be focusing on them as much. if that's not what your meaning please explain about the gradual build up. as for the combination between the two Haven missions, yes there were some crossovers. so far as Hanson's Infestation, I was going off of the cinematic Infested with that, although she might have exposed herself to the virus in that one, I figured she already was and so ran with it that way. if she was not infested, and she exposed herself, I can just slap an AU on it like I do with the Mech soldiers. i'm trying to do stuff with the Zerg virus, but I am in no way majoring in biology just yet, i'm still in high school :) **

**Yoshtar, that was one of my all time favorite lines throughout wings of liberty, alongside "easy tychus, this ain't science fiction". thanks for your support besides that. **

**as always, Read and Review**

* * *

Dave is finally waking up. He was under for much longer than the doctors expected, to the point where they had worried it was permanent, but he's awake now. Not only that, but he's asking to see me. The last time I saw him, he was bleeding and still ranting incoherently about I was going to kill him, but hopefully my acting contrary to what he had expected has put a few points in my favor with him. Nevertheless, it is hard going to talk with him. I'm currently sitting in the waiting room, reading an article on a tablet. I deactivate it when I hear my name being called, he's awake again. I was waiting here because he's been drifting in and out of consciousness. I get up from my chair and walk back to the room he's in.

When I enter it, he looks up and says "I'm sorry." I am a little surprised that he would be that honest with me about it, but still very grateful. I sit down again in one of the chairs provided, and wait as he explains "you've proven yourself, I still feel justified in my concerns, but I'm sorry I didn't at least give you a chance." I nod slowly, and say "I understand, I provided you with a lot of unknowns, and given what happened to all of us in the brood war," he shakes his head there "it goes back farther than that. You heard the reports about Mar Sara, right?" I nod, and say "The first documented infestation was found there." He responds "My father led that garrison. I found him afterwards, when the raiders had burned it out. He was still alive. He… told me he was in control of himself, just like you did. I took him home; afterwards, to see if whatever happened to him would get better. As soon as my back was turned… " he starts weeping softly. So that was it, he had been presented with a similar situation before, and it had burned him. He says "do you see? Can you understand why I wasn't able to trust?" I simply nod, and say, "I understand, and I forgive you." He lets out a long, deep breath, and says "thank you." Then he falls back to sleep, the monitors giving a steady beat to show that he is still alive.

I return to my Barracks a little bit wiser than when I had left, and a lot more somber. Dave had never really opened up about his past, but I can see, with twenty/twenty hindsight, how badly he was against anything to do with the Zerg. I feel sorry for him, but I don't think that knowing why he hated much before would have done much to earn his trust. With something like that, when you are so burned by something, only a lot of evidence to the contrary can allow you to warm up to it again.

After talking to him, I decide to go down to Hanson's lab, I haven't talked to her much since she was changed by the virus, excluding the training area earlier today, which doesn't exactly count, and besides that I just want something else to think about for a moment. She's working on something when I enter, it appears to be something to do with the dominion. When she notices my entry, she waves me over. It's the Dominion's report on the Haven situation. I'm a little curious as to how they'll spin this one as well. I blanch when I read what they have to say about Haven, "world infested, do not approach" I ask "did something happen?" she shakes her head, "they've classified all the Infested as part of the swarm, contradicting themselves, and forcing UNN to release a statement of apology. Right now, everyone inside the Dominion believes this world to be part of the Zerg Swarm." I'm unhappy at that, but then say "well, it is the Dominion, what can you expect?" she agrees, "we weren't planning on staying with them anyway, but this just makes it official." Then I ask "have the other governments issued a statement?" she shakes her head in the negative. "The Umojans have kept quiet about it, but through back channels have agreed to support us if we need it, and the Kel-Morians don't care." That sounds like the classic response from each of the three, and it's not something I didn't expect if I think about it.

That finished, I ask her "how are you feeling? I know that for the first couple of days it was very hard." She answers "it's really not that different, and all the changes have been beneficial. Couple that with the crew having already been acclimatized to Infested aboard their ship thanks to you, and it really isn't that big of a change." I respond "so no lingering worries?" she shakes her head in the negative "I found the treatment, and helped make it myself, I know what it does, and I'm confident that I'm in control. However, Kerrigan will know about you now, even if she hasn't seen your face specifically, she will know we have a way of curing infestation, and will likely be coming after us with greater force than we have seen yet. We're a threat to her now." "That we are, what are you working on now?" I inquire, as most of her time has been devoted to finding out why my mind remained intact, "I'm going to keep studying Infestation, see if there is a way to reverse it. The current treatment isn't as strong as I would like it to be, and if we can get it to work on those who are already infested, or if we can reverse the other symptoms, it would go a long way." "Alright, if you need my help, don't hesitate to ask, I have a stake in finding a cure as well, you know." I then leave her to her work.

I walk slowly back to my Barracks, relishing being alone with my thoughts, something that I have not been for a while. I think about the future, what life will be like when this war ends, as all wars must. I will go back to civilian life, regardless of my condition. I hope that a lot of others will do the same. Of course, the time I have will be longer than the time some others may. I'm Zerg, which means that through constant mutation and replication of cells I can live a much longer life than unaltered Terrans. We honestly have no records of a Zerg ever dying of natural causes. That scares me a little, not because I want to die, but because I can't fathom living for that long. My Terran brain may make the survival of my body academic, however. I take a mental step back and decide it's not something I necessarily want to think about, and so turn my thoughts to other subjects.

Back in my Barracks, I log onto my profile, and set up for a game with Zeke and Blake. I continue this for a while, grabbing dinner when it is time, until lights out. When the night cycle begins, I climb into my bed, and attempt to fall asleep. For some reason, it will not come easily, and so I spend a good forty-five minutes lying awake. I can feel something, I don't know what, but there is some… thing here, and it's boring into my skull, not physically, but mentally. It's… I don't even know how to describe it, a pressure from outside, constant and demanding. The pressure is strangely familiar, however, All curves and shadows. It's Dark and Cold, alien, but again, familiar. that's the impression I get from the pressure against my mind. When it senses my awareness of it, it fades to nothing.

* * *

Zeratul, Prelate of the Dark Templar, had grown careless in his probing of the Changed One's mind. He had a message to deliver to Raynor, one of utmost importance, but when he detected not only one Zerg, but many aboard the ship, he was startled and worried for his friend. When he examined their minds, however, something was wrong. They were Zerg, but they were not. It was as though the Infestation which had overtaken them was nothing more than a covering, below which their minds were unchanged. He had gotten a report from Selendis about the situation over the planet the Terrans had named Haven, but he had not believed it. Now, not only was there conformation for the report, but conformation for what Raynor had said as well. When he had sensed Kerrigan's consciousness four years ago, it had still been shrouded in the Zerg's Hive Mind. These, though, were not. He would need to investigate further, but not tonight. For tonight he simply waited, watching for his opportunity to alert Raynor to the Doom which chased them all.

* * *

I wake up, and immediately search my mind for the pressure that had been there the night before. It was gone, but I would report this to the Psychologists, it would be wrong not to, after all. If the Zerg were trying to enter my consciousness, I need to alert them to the possibility. But, I don't think it was the Zerg. What I have heard of them does not match the icy darkness of the mind I had contact with last night. The first course of action would be to talk to the other Infested, and see if they felt the same thing. If it was an isolated phenomenon, that could mean one thing, while if everyone felt the dark chill, then it may mean another altogether. I get out of bed, noting the time, still a good half hour before Day began, and get ready for the day. I begin to feel this concern in the back of my mind, like a tingle at the back of my neck. It's the same consciousness, but a lot less heavy-handed this time. I would definitely be reporting this. After I clean myself off, and get dressed in new clothes, the Day cycle has begun, and I immediately head to the Bridge. This is going to Raynor himself.

I walk out onto the Bridge; somewhere I have been maybe four times before. Matt is here, but Raynor is absent. I decide to talk to him instead, as chasing down Raynor is not preferable. And telling Matt is basically the same thing. "Julia, what's wrong?" he says, seeing me, "it may be nothing," I begin, "but last night, I felt… something, in my mind. I don't know what it is, but It is still there. I'm not sure if it's the Zerg trying to break into my consciousness or what, but I feel that I need to tell you, just in case." He says "do you even have a connection to the Swarm?" I shake my head "not that I know of, but it's better to be safe than sorry, when something like this is going on." He nods, "what would you like me to do about it?" I respond "ask the rest of the Infested what they felt, if it is the same thing, then we have a problem, if it's not, I could just have had some weird nightmare." He agrees, and says "thank you for bringing this to my attention."

That accomplished, I head back to my Barracks, where my squad is preparing hurriedly for the mission. We are heading down to the barren world of Xil, taking this route because the Odin is still being transported to Korhal. We don't know what's down there, but it wiped out the Möbius Foundation base down there, and they have an energy drill. As such, all Marine teams are being deployed that aren't coming down off of last mission's stims. We're not going to be using stims for this mission, because after it we're going to Korhal, which is something that every single marine team without fail has volunteered for.

"so, they're sending us down here, and we're supposed to wait while a drill literally bores into an ancient alien burial ground, and we're doing it in a base, where every single person has mysteriously vanished without a trace. We're screwed" Zeke sums up the situation perfectly. "It's not that bad" Blake tries to make us feel a little better, "it's not like we're assaulting char or anything. This world has no known habitations, whoever came here, did so recently." I shake my head at that "thanks for jinxing us, Blake, now we're going to wind up doing just that." Andrew cuts in "cut the chatter soldiers, we're about to hit Atmo, I want Mission Protocols engaged." "sir" came the response. We hit atmo, along with two heavy set Siege Tanks of our own, and begin the mission.


	11. Chapter 11

**alright, Xil and the aftermath are this chapter. I hope you enjoy it. after that, we're going live on the UNN studio on Korhal :) **

**Turtwig :) I do plan on WOL being mostly the same, although I'll be veering a little bit away from canon on the Protoss minicampaign, which I will be including, although it will only take maybe 500 words a chapter. that said, they will be assaulting char, so that was some fun foreshadowing/reference to the mission. **

**FtDLulz, you're welcome, and here's another. **

**Izwan, ya, pretty much on your first paragraph. Hanson's mental state is probably more fragile than she lets on, but she is dealing with it pretty well. Zeratul meeting the freed infested is definitely foreshadowing on my part. I do plan to extend this all the way through LOTV, at which point it will probably be vastly AU from what Bliz has planned. ya the drill mission isn't exactly the best writing material, but I did the best I could, and hope you enjoy. in reference to your last comment, however, she is meeting the protoss for the first time, the whole thing with the Zerg will likely be flushed out on Tyrador. **

**Read and Review. **

* * *

This world is dead. Dead almost does not even describe it. A more accurate term would be sterile, I have been to worlds like this before, but it's the evidence that there was once life that makes this death so unnerving. My team moves from the drop-point, the team consisting of Alpha, Epsilon Theta, and Golf squadron, and totaling in at six medics and twenty-four highly trained marine. When we reach past the initial circle where we were deposited, however, we come upon a force of Tal'Darim Protoss. They had been lying in wait for us, a voice enters my mind, as it does the rest of our forces and possibly Raynor himself, "More Terran thieves? Allied with abominations! The mysteries of this place are forbidden! You will pay for your transgression with your lives!" the Marines open fire, and I do with my heavy pistol as well. The Zealots activate their Cybernetic implants, and move forward at remarkable speeds, slamming into the Marines, who then have to dodge and dance around their Psi blades. One marine breaks through his opponent's plasma shield, and fires a barrage of bullets into his gut, but not before the Zealot removes his arm. I rush forward, as he is closest to me, while the rest of the medics continue to assist with other injuries. The wound wasn't cauterised, so I am theoretically able to reattach it. Realigning blood vessels and then sealing them up is no easy task, even with all the advanced medical equipment we have available to us now. Fortunately, we are able to reconnect nerve cells; otherwise the reattachment might be in vain. I give the poor marine a shot of pain killers as I work, both to ease the pain of having a limb torn off, and to get him to stop struggling against me as much.

Finally, the arm reattached by sutures which will need to be replaced by more permanent repairs later, a sealant along the major veins and arteries to keep them flowing only into one another, and a synthetic blood-analogue to replace the missing internal fluids, I let my patient go. The Protoss warriors have all been teleported away to repair their injuries, and the Stalker-class mechs have been reduced to smoking piles of circuits. We continue onwards, the injured at the back to prevent them from getting more so. We reach a turning point in the path we are following, and hear Raynor on the communicator "Hold up there! Those Protoss cannons will tear us a new one if we try to advance. Swann? You promised me siege tanks! Where are they?" "Settle down, hotshot. They're comin'. These babies'll knock these cannons down from a nice, safe distance." After that, he goes off into ramblings about their technical specifications, and I watch the mechanical monsters move forward, stop, and then engage the function known as "siege mode." The tank treads expand outward, and clamps move into the ground to provide additional stability, and the already formidable cannon expands its firing chamber and swaps ammunition. These deadly machines of war are a welcome sight, at least, when they're on our side. They open fire on the pylon supporting the delicate looking cannon emplacements. When the crystal shatters, the cannons deactivate, and the marines rush in to assist in destroying the Protoss siege weapons.

The last one deactivated, we move forward, the Marine force in-between the two cannons. When we get to the top of the hill, we notice a Protoss stalker waiting on the low ground. The order to move into siege mode comes, and the Tank move off to the edge of the cliff. The cannons fire, something that can be felt, not just heard, the spider-mechs fall in heaps. We wait for a while to make sure there are no more surprises waiting for us, then remove the Cannons from siege mode, and move into the ruins of the Möbius foundation expedition base.

The Hyperion's adjutant accesses the structures, and transfers the control to Raynor. Some of the SCVs from the Hyperion come down as well, while the Laser Drill powers up. Immediately afterwards, some of the SCVs move to construct defenses alongside the natural choke points. Three marine teams of five were already down here, the other two arrive by drop pod afterwards. This is a full-blown Tal'Darim attack, and we are going to need all the help we can get. The Drill's constant noise is filtered out by the suit, the helmet of which we all have closed. Mission protocols are relaxed slightly, simply because the little noise that comes from conversation will not add much to the thunderous racket of the 174 gigawatt solid-state laser boring through the hardened material of the temple.

The Mobius base has an extensive sensor network, so attacks are rather publicized. In addition to this, the Laser Drill itself is a formidable weapon. The Marines' job is simply to mop up any survivors of the Drill's relentless assaults, and the Siege tanks' long range pounding. When the drill pierces the first layer of the Temple, it looks extremely dramatic. The outer door, which is white hot, suddenly caving inwards and melting. When another door was revealed behind that, though, the elation felt at finally making progress was curbed. After that, an Air wave was sent after us, old Protoss craft called scouts, as well as newer craft which are able to transform into mobile Pylon fields. Combine that with their new Transportation systems, and you have a force to be reckoned with. Luckily, the Laser drill was able to mitigate whatever effectiveness that plan might have held. I get the feeling that I would not stand a second against that intensity, and even if I did, I would be so horribly mangled from the experience that I would never be able to fight again, Zerg regenerative abilities or not.

Temples were discovered along the route, and Wraiths are recruited to sight for the massive drill. I hear the mission reports, about the artifacts being recovered. Then the alert comes through "the laser drill is now cutting through the door's thermal barrier" thermal barrier? That's quite the technology, and it's going to drag out our stay in this place even further, which is wonderful. Shortly after that, another wave of air transports come at the Möbius Base this one is even more numerous, with the Transports being torn apart by either our Anti Air defenses, or melted to slag by the Laser Drill.

The attacks continue, the Protoss are relentless, probably because of the emergency teleportation devices their living warriors have, which automatically activates if they're injured badly. Some of those troops, I know, will be able to retake the field after medical care; others will be placed inside Immortals, second generation dragoons which are used to soak up heavy-weapons fire. The next wave comes, and the Laser drill doesn't turn around. Those archons just soak up the fire from the Cannons, and keep coming. We prep ourselves for the attack, and open fire as soon as they get into range. I aim my heavy pistol at the Archon, and fire again and again, but even the powerful gun is unable to make a significant dent. Then, a flare of light comes from outside, behind our wall, a flare that gets brighter and brighter until it peaks, and the Archon is eradicated in a blast of the same light. Then, our Spectre uncloaks, salutes, and reengages his cloaking mechanism. I'm glad that he's here, honestly I almost never see him on our missions.

After that attack, most of them go smoothly until it is announced that we are cutting through the final layer of the temple. Like the barrier before it, the second layer simply melts backwards. The Tal'Darim executor, who has a reputation for being obnoxiously loud in his mental communications, rages at us Psionically. First we are attacked by additional air transports, then, he sends forth his Colossi, massive mechanical terrors which function almost like our Siege Tanks, in that they cause major carnage over a large area, and have a very long range. The downside to this is they are so large that they can be hit by weapons specified to attacking enemy aircraft. They stand up under the Drill's fire even better than the Archons did, or so it seems, but in the end they too re doomed to failure.

"Breach of the Doorway Core is imminent. Structure access imminent" finally, I think, it's almost over. The attacks are coming every second, as soon as a new troop is warped onworld, it is immediately sent to attack us, immortals, archons and Colossi travel towards the base only to be knocked down by our Laser Drill. The bunker we're in has fallen to disrepair, and it may actually burn down, in spite of the efforts of our SCVs.

Finally, the last barrier falls, and the order to abandon bunkers is given. We push forward through a seemingly endless line of Tal'Darim warriors, moving staggered up to the Temple proper. The Base structures have been abandoned for an all-out push, although the Laser Drill is still carving down the largest units. multiple wounds have to be treated, most self-cauterized by the Psi-blades and lasers the enemy prefers using. We haven't lost anyone, yet. We reach the Access point to the Protoss base, and invert our passage, walking backwards as the Tal'Darim seek to overwhelm us. I'm out of most of my supplies by this point, triaging my Synthetic Oxygen and other medical equipment as it becomes available. When I run empty, again, and have to wait for more to synthesize, I fire my gun. By now I've learned how to use it almost instinctively, my hands automatically moving to reload when the Sixth shot is fired. A Zealot suddenly breaks through the line to attack the medics behind it. Close combat, adrenaline surges through my system, he's coming right at me. I react, moving my infested wings dexterously at the threat to my life. The unfortunate zealot is impaled, before he flashes in a teal burst. I had never used my new appendages like that, although it seems to be what they are used for. After that, I move with the rest of my squad back inside the temple.

The Protoss break off the assault once we are inside, fading back eerily. Blake says "I wonder if they know something we don't" the silence is his answer. The rest of the teams have not shown up yet, I don't know what's going on there. We walk through the ruined chambers, stepping carefully to avoid the molten piles of metal. There seem to be whispers at the edge of my mind, voices just outside of hearing. From the uneasiness of my Squad, they know something's up as well. Finally, we reach the central chamber of the Temple. In it, is an artifact that looks like the ones in the lab. Instantly I start to feel weak, my body's energy being drained into it. It's slightly weaker than the feeling in the lab, because there are two pieces there, but it's still enough. I hang back, repulsed by it. The Marines pick it up, and move it. The sight looks eerily like pallbearers at a funeral carrying a coffin.

Outside, the Artifact is picked up by a Dropship, which we then load onto. Most of the buildings from the base which have the ability join us, as it is more convenient to have them with us, then it is to be missing them. When we get back onboard, I walk up to Raynor, who is observing the Artifact's retrieval. I then ask "what happened to the other teams?"

he answers "they got out alright, once you broke though the pressure got kicked up on them, so I ordered them to withdraw. Looks like you did well enough, and we got off with minimal casualties. I'd say that's a victory." I nod, understanding.

Then I say "be careful with that artifact, it seems wrong, and has been subtly draining my energy since I got near it."

He nods, and then says "well, so long as it only targets Zerg, I don't mind. No offense, of course."

I answer "none taken, just be careful."

* * *

Zeratul watched the Infested talk to Raynor, shrouded in darkness inside the Armory. She was the one who had instigated this change. He had observed the Infested from within the ship, always out of sight. They acted as though nothing was different. It was unnatural. He had come to the conclusion that they were genuine, somehow. This was something that needed to be brought to Shakuras. What was happening here is almost identical to the situation on haven, which has been baffling the Hierarchy's top minds. The Observers posted on the planet saw a portion of the infested returning to their normal activities alongside uninfected humans. Family structures were remaining intact despite the change which might only affect one member of a family. Infested children are acting normally, they seeming the least bothered by the change out of everyone. Most within the hierarchy believed that it was a ploy by the Zerg, although they could not come up with a reason for the extensive ruse. Even the portion which had not begun behaving normally were doing so out of what appeared to be self-loathing. They were horrified by what had happened to them, and were not hiding it. That would not be present in a Ruse whatsoever. Shakuras was at a standstill while this planet was debated over and over. With this new evidence of Infested aboard the Hyperion itself, and the records which he had gleaned from Hanson's computer, he may be able to convince the Protoss that they were genuine. Of course, he could also be banished as a Heretic, and even said to be Indoctrinated by the Zerg, as was Raszagal four years ago. He follows Raynor through the hallways until he is alone. Then, he reveals himself.

* * *

Hyperion Access Hall F - 04:14 Shipboard Time

Jim Raynor walks to the doors of Access Hall F. drinking deeply from his Flask, the hallway's Doors open. Raynor continues on into the access hall, the doors closing behind him. Just as he takes another swallow, the lights flicker. He stops in puzzlement then turns to look back and as he puts his flask away the sounds of machinery slow to a halt; the lights at both ends go out, continuing on to meet in the middle until the two Raynor stands under are the only ones on. He turns back forward as a Protoss's mental communication is heard. Zeratul greets his old friend, "James Raynor..." Zeratul removes the veil from before his friend's eyes, appearing out of the darkness from the direction Raynor was heading, moving slowly. he speaks ominously "...I bring tidings of doom."

Raynor, recognizing the voice, greets "Zeratul..." Zeratul clutches his previously wounded arm, phantom pain flaring up in the muscle, then continues.

"I have pierced the veil of the future and beheld only..." he, weary from the mental exertion required to maintain a cloak for the entire day, falls to his knees., "oblivion." Raynor immediately kneels, concerned. Zeratul continues his message, desperate to impart what he has learned. "Yet one spark of hope remains. You will hold her life in your hands..." Zeratul's voice rises in anger, then evens off. " ...And though justice demands that she die for her crimes, without her aid, we all are doomed."

Raynor then says in a shocked tone, "Wait a second, you're talking about Kerrigan?" Upset at the unknowns being offered by his old friend, Raynor says "It's been four years! Y'show up outta nowhere –" Zeratul interrupts him, grabbing the underside of his right wrist, pulling Raynor to him and quickly placing an object into his hand.

Zeratul then mentally speaks with great insistence "Time is short! You must understand!" Raynor is surprised at his friend's sudden insistence, glancing first down, then up at Zeratul, and back down. Zeratul takes his hands away, revealing a strange device, but definitely of Protoss design. Zeratul speaks inside his mind "The answers you seek lie within." The device opens, warping in a green crystal, which appears to be khadarin in origin." Study it well, the future of both our civilizations hangs in the balance." Raynor looks back up from the crystal and stands; Zeratul finishes speaking, and moves back into the shadows. The lights turn back on and the sounds of machinery start up again.

He then says "...Nice to see you too."


	12. Chapter 12

**sorry for the late update, but I had a lot of stuff I needed to do today. I promise I won't make a habit of it. today I have completely overhauled the Prophecy missions, making them much less... shall we say... prophetic, and changing Kerrigan's involvement. that's to change it up for you readers, as I figure you don't want a retelling of the Dark Voice story in it's entirety, so in my usual fashion, I have provided many more details. enjoy, or don't, it's your choice. **

**Turtwig, I agree that it was boring, but unfortunately exposition type material needs to happen. there isn't a lot I can change in that particular mission, although I did what I could. Korhal is coming, probably next chapter, and the one after that. **

**Read and Review, I really enjoy reviews. **

* * *

I cannot walk by the lab now without feeling more drained. The third artifact increased the capability of the other two tremendously. Its range has been dramatically increased, as has its power level. There are five of these pieces, or so I've heard. At the fifth piece, I think it could kill me. That's a frightening thought. Xil was not the best mission we've ever had, but it was far from the worst. Even with the energy-draining alien artifact we picked up at the end. It may be after-mission jitters, but there have been rumors flying throughout the ship that a Protoss was onboard talking to Raynor. That would explain the feeling I had last night. Dark Templars have a very specific feeling to their minds, and it is like that, dark, cold and alien. The reason I didn't pick it up instantly is because the last time I had felt it, it was only communication. Based on John's recommendation, I had my Psi-index reevaluated, and it turned out as a 4. That is exponentially higher than what I was before. Traumatic experiences can cause those mind-altering effects. Some people just "snap", their latent Psionic energies coming forth when needed. Apparently I am one of those, although why it has not been picked up before is beyond me. I've confirmed that the Zerg did not have anything to do with my spike, though. The presence I felt was familiar, I've fought with Dark Templars before, throughout the Brood War we were on the same side in many conflicts. If I were to put a face to this feeling, I would use the Prelate Zeratul's. I can only hope that he sees us in a better light than Selendis.

I am in the secondary lab currently, talking with Hanson and looking over the mutative code within the Zerg virus. We're still trying to figure out how to even begin with a cure. The virus mutates randomly, without a set pattern. A single generation will have very little in common with the next. However, they all use a base sheath that is similar. That is how my Nerve cells are able to keep subsequent strains of the virus out. That is a weakness for it, and we don't want to pursue it too vigorously, or else it might decide to mutate more drastically. Doing so would possibly render the Cure inoperable against subsequent strains of the virus. That is an eventuality, of course, but there is no need to rush it. The Virus is gone from our bodies, thankfully, leaving behind its changes. That's the way it works, growing in a signal-cascade to change the body to the Zerg's specifications, and then disappearing once its work is complete.

We make some progress, identifying the signal-receptors that allow the Viral Agent's entry into the cell, something that also remains the same in almost every iteration, before our work is cut short. The Night cycle will be beginning shortly, and we still need sleep, so I bow out, and head back to my barracks. The same presence I felt this morning washes over me again, and I look around, hoping to see the Prelate. No such luck, unfortunately, and the presence recedes until I cannot feel it any longer.

Dave has been released back to our Barracks, and is sleeping in his bunk again. He seems to be a different person completely though, laughing and joking with his friends. It is a lot more like what he was like before I was taken. That must mean he's finally decided to trust me. I'm glad of that, and it will make life aboard the ship much more pleasant for all concerned. Our squad is tired, most of us having fought for our lives within the last half an hour. There is still an air of camaraderie and celebration over a mission well done, however. I quickly join in, moving over to my friends. Zeke greets me with a raised hand, and I smile and sit down. He is in the middle of a story, and I listen in to see what I can catch. It's one of our Brood War era exploits, a joint venture between the Protoss and us Raiders. The Raider forces were on the planet Aiur, along with the Protoss survivors of the Zerg attack. In their company was the leader of the Dominion, Arcturus Mengsk. The UED was looking to capture them both. I remember the battle, very messy, with a lot of losses. We managed to get off world in a transport ship, watching from behind us as the encampment, and the UED's base burned beneath an assault of Zerg. Most of the story was rather lighthearted, with frequent allusions to Mengsk's absolute terror and cowardice, with a healthy side of feigned Protoss superiority. All in all, it was a surprisingly accurate representation of what happened, although I don't think Mengsk ever had to change into "brown trousers, as the alternative was to have the ones he was wearing end up brown". It's a good story though.

I take over the storytelling after we escape, as Zeke was on medical leave for the next part. My tone makes the story more serious though. I talk about the betrayals of the Zerg, how Kerrigan manipulated us all masterfully, and then graciously let us live at the end. By the end of the telling, which spanned the entire conflict, no one was laughing, and the atmosphere had grown deathly quiet. I finish with "but, now we're ready and able to fight back. We're wiser for the experience, and we know who and what we're dealing with. This time, we won't stop, and we won't compromise our ideals. We will have peace, and freedom, both from outside influences, and from within. It won't be easy, but what in life is? I've been burned by the Zerg in a very deep and personal way, but that has only strengthened my resolve. We're all here because we've experienced something similar, although maybe not on my scale, and maybe not from the same enemy. We're all in this together, and I wouldn't want to be here with anyone else. Thank you for allowing me back on, thank you for allowing me your trust again. I swear to you, unlike what happened four years ago, I will not betray it. Good night."

"You know, that's not exactly where I had planned this story to go." Zeke says as he walks over to me.

"I know. But it's all connected. I felt that they needed to hear what happened, most of those men outside Andrew, you, me, Blake, and Dave haven't been out here for more than a couple weeks. They need to know what happened."

He nods, and then smiles "you did good though, especially that part at the end. I've always said you're a great speaker, but wow, that one would give Raynor a run for his money."

I chuckle at that "I don't know so much about that, but I do try." After which, we return to our separate bunks, feeling more sober, but more reassured, and I drift off to sleep.

* * *

Raynor stares at the Ihan Crystal in the empty Laboratory. It's late, Stettman had turned in for the night and Hanson didn't come here anymore. Zeratul had seemed extremely urgent about the contents of this crystal, and anything that could upset his friend like that was something he needed to see. Kerrigan… what was so important that She had to save them from it? This reeked of the Brood War, which is not a conflict he would want to relive. Finally, he shakes himself from his reverie, and mutters "Zeratul... what the hell have you gotten yourself into?" he activates the crystal, which begins to glow, and then he feels himself falling.

* * *

"Friend Raynor, long has it been since we stood together against the Swarm. Since then, I have wandered the void, searching for fragments, clues from the Xel'Naga, which may be invaluable to surviving the coming conflict. My Sojourn lead to the remote world of Ulaan, where I discovered something which may shift the balance of power within the Galaxy as we know it, and, if what is outlined is to be believed, twist the cycle which gave birth to both the Protoss and the Zerg into something terrible. Yet, I was not the first to discover it. It falls to you, now, old friend… to relive my memories… and believe."

Zeratul examines a carving, depicting both the Protoss and the Zerg, ascending before becoming one being. Inside his head, Raynor hears Zeratul thinking. "A Cycle which has existed for millennia, two species, championed by the Xel'Naga, would ascend to perfection, and Unite to become the next incarnation of the Gods themselves. This time, the Cycle was broken. Time alone will tell whether it will be reforged, and if so, in what way?" suddenly, alarm flares inside Raynor's mind, Zeratul has sensed something. He moves away from the shrine, having gleaned all he can from its inscriptions, the warning of danger which he sensed returns, and he is attacked by four warriors of the Zerg Swarm. These are mere hydralisks, however, and dispatched with ease.

When the last one falls by its brother's talon, a echoing, bone chilling laugh fills the silence of the dark world. "do you hear them, Zeratul? Whispering in their infancy? The Harbingers of His perfection. The Galaxy as we know it will be reshaped at their coming, a new Order, a new Cycle imposed. He will reign supreme, not only for this cycle, but for all of them." Zeratul recognizes the signs, Kerrigan's mind is being dominated, the Master manipulator is herself being played like an instrument.

"Perhaps," he shrouds himself from her eyes, and moves through the Void to a position above her. "But you won't live to see it!" he shouts as he jumps at her, intending to cut off the head of the snake, and collect vengeance for Raszagal. She is not so easily duped, however, and catches him mid motion in a web of Psionic power, of such strength that it threatens to tear him limb from limb.

"Please, killing me will do nothing. I will be reborn in His presence. He will grant me vengeance, and then Peace. Fitting, that the last hope of the Xel'Naga will be destroyed by the Promised of the Amon'Tai" with that, her mental concentration slips a fraction, and Zeratul is able to break it.

"Never!" he shouts mentally as he lunges at her again. His deadly blade of Psionic energy whistles through the air, before contacting carapace, ending the Zerg threat forever. He then flips backwards, pushing himself against the Queen's body, now, if his strike succeeded, little more than a corpse. He lands, and pain sears through his right arm. He looks up to see Kerrigan still standing. Then, what he hit becomes obvious as one of her bone-wings slide off, and it falls to the ground. He phases through the Void out of range of any counterattacks, and then observes as one of the Zerg walks up to her. She pets the creature, looking at her damaged appendage.

"His arrival cannot be stopped. He is coming, and when he is here, I will embrace perfection." Her wing regrows, removing the little damage the Prelate's attack had caused.

Zeratul mutters to himself "not while I am alive, Kerrigan" before climbing out of the cavern, and onward to the rest of his task on this world.

The other shrines held similar inscriptions, detailing how the cycle was supposed to occur. Apparently the Xel'Naga survivors had fled to this world after being ambushed by the second born. Here, they laid out instructions, details about the Traitor, Amon, his plans, his abilities, and his inherent weaknesses. The Zerg were defacing the shrines as he arrives at them, destroying the message found within at their deranged leader's command. He fights through the hordes, aided by several other Protoss lead by Karass. He reaches the first and second shrines, each one giving him more information about his Enemy. Hidden within the communications is a secondary message as well, one he does not understand. He would investigate it later, once he has stopped the destruction of the Shrines. The third and final shrine is heavily guarded, but the main force of Protoss is there as well. He fights through the lines of the enemy, reaches the third shrine, and collects what information he can from it. With the data, which may be the last hope of his people, he flees. Karass and his Templar cover his retreat. Zeratul cuts down the remaining enemies, boards his craft, and exits the archive world.

* * *

Raynor comes back to himself, stunned. A rogue, living Xel'Naga, one with enough power to enslave kerrigan's mind to his. This was not good. He understand what Zeratul meant, however, when he said she must not die. None of this was her fault, she might have been his captive in mind since she was Infested. His mind is both worried, and strangely eased by that fact, it means that the woman he loved didn't kill his friend Fenix, or slaughter millions, at least, not of her own volition. It also means he must find a way to destroy this "Amon" if he wants to get her back.


	13. Chapter 13

**The First Korhal chapter is away. sorry for the late update, but I'm keeping up my record of one a day updates, although only by the most technical of measurements. i'm going on vacation soon, so updates will be sporadic and based on what I'm doing at the time. this was a fun chapter for me, as I actually scared myself during one point. also, yes, there is a cliffhanger here.**

* * *

Daybreak brings with it exciting news. The Odin has been delivered, with Findlay inside. This time he has a little more training, and knows how to talk to Command. All squads are deploying today, we're taking the UNN complex by storm. Spirits are high today, this is a decisive blow against the Dominion, using their own superweapon against them in a suicidal strike, and when it succeeds, everyone from the highest military official to the lowest worker will know what Mengsk did to Tarsonis to secure his rule. Every marine squad has specific tasks; Golf and Sierra as usual are guarding the base. Epsilon Theta is raiding one of the complexes; Bravo Delta and Barren Zeta are raiding the other two. Echo November, and Alpha squads are hitting targets of opportunity, running interference against the Dominion, and generally making a nuisance of ourselves. I think this mission will be quite enjoyable.

We're prepared and ready to go; the Dropships have us coming in at different points, the Attack squads moving in with the Command Center. The same is true for the Defense squads. We're being dropped off randomly on the outskirts of town in legitimate dominion transports. We're suited up, of course, and will be obvious to any dominion troops once we're out, but that is an eventuality, given my condition. Echo November has two infested members in it as well. We're no longer as inconspicuous as we once were. We touch down, and I move into formation behind the rest of my Squad. "Cry Havoc, and let slip the dogs of war" whispers someone whose voice I don't recognize, one of the new faces from the squad. He's either a fan of Shakespeare, which while unlikely is possible, or, more likely, a Star Trek fan. We move forward, looking around that the great metropolis.

"It's hard to believe that this whole planet used to be an irradiated husk". Blake says.

I respond "yeah, it's quite something. Too bad it comes at such a cost. " everyone is silent after that.

There's a bridge here, past a Dominion command center with mineral supplies around it. The SCVs are watching the Odin's unveiling, and are completely oblivious to our presence. Beyond the bridge is a science facility. This looks like the perfect target, keeps the Dominion off balance, and allows us to pick up something from the ruin. Dominion Bio-Labs are going to have something in them.

We enter the building through its front entrance just as we hear the distinctive cannon-blast of the Odin go off for the first time. The Marines are prepared for a fight, but are disappointed with a receptionist who cowers behind her desk when we enter. We secure the room, and set up Jamming equipment to stop any alarms they have going. It's not a perfect solution, there may have already been an alert sent out, but this way it'll be less clear, and hopefully be slower in coming. I move the Secretary, who screams again when she sees an Infested amongst the raiders, from her chair and begin moving through the Facility's files. All the really important stuff is behind firewalls which the Secretary's profile can't get me through.

I say "they've got something in here, but I can't decrypt it from this station. We need to go in further, find the Administrator".

Andrew nods, and says "Dave, Mark, you hold the doors, radio if there's trouble and we'll try to reinforce you. The rest of you, with me." We move on, through the reception chamber to the beginnings of the laboratory. The Scientists freeze up when they see us, and it is obvious that no coherent warning was sent out. Good. We secure the ones we find, and download their files on a secure channel. We then set the terminals to delete. They're doing bio-weapons research here, otherwise we wouldn't bother.

We keep going through the well-lit halls, when we come to a room we breach, take care of whoever's inside, still no security whatsoever, and download the files. By now the Odin's cannon-blasts have stopped coming. We keep in radio contact, on a specific frequency the Jammer doesn't target, both with each other, and with the outpost onworld. They estimate a twenty-minute upload at each site, and the Odin only managed to destroy one site, although it did partially dismantle another. That should give us at least an hour to find the Administrator. Unfortunately, this facility is large, and he could be anywhere. He has to know something's up, either through hard-wired connections, or through a simple lack of communications from the rest of the facility. We're expecting a trap, but that doesn't mean we'll be ready when it hits.

The second floor is different from the first. The walls are darker here, and the atmosphere more threatening. There's something psychological going on here, something to do with sentients. That's not good, at all. If they're torturing prisoners in here, to test whatever this weapon is, we may have to put them down. One report we found listed using the HEV, or the Zerg Virus. Infested cannot be saved once they are fully converted, I just hope the Dominion didn't do something like that.

We enter the next room in our path, to discover a nightmare. They have been using the HEV. It's as bad as the Infested Station. The veterans of that experience are heavily affected. I feel sick. This is wrong, it's wrong even when the Zerg are the ones infesting innocents, but when it's the dominion, the people who are supposed to be human; it reaches a whole new level. They are in cages, moaning incoherently, acting completely inhuman. Pity and disgust vie for dominance inside me. Disgust wins, and I turn to the scientists who were performing experiments on these things, and are now bound like the rest of the staff. I say "these men are traitors to humanity, they cannot be allowed to live." I raise my gun, before Andrew interrupts me, pushing my hand back down.

"No. I know what they have done, but do you really think you can punish them adequately for their crimes? And more importantly, should you?"

I growl "yes" and shift my aim to the control panel that held the Infested locked in place. Once more I attempt to fire, to leave these men with those they have tortured and deformed in the name of science. Once again, Andrew stops me.

"If you do that, are you any better than them?"

I answer "they did this to themselves."

Finally, he grows fed up. "Julia, as your Commanding Officer, I order you to put that gun down. Whether we like it or not, we need these men. They all have vital pieces of evidence to what they were doing here, pieces that could mean the difference between a rescue, and an execution. I know that you have strong feelings towards Infestation, but killing them won't bring these men back. One way or another, they will never do what they did here again. Let the proper authorities take care of the rest." I growl in frustration, how can he not see it? They won't get a trial. The Dominion's systems are too rigged for that to happen, and we can't take them onboard the Hyperion and try them ourselves. This is the only way.

After a long moment, however, the good soldier in me wins out, and I lower my weapon. Andrew breathes out a sigh of relief. My focus zooms outward, and I see the way the rest of the Marines are arranged. Some, my friends and one other marine, stand behind me, while the rest of the squad backs up Andrew. We were that close to a confrontation. "let's just get out of here" Andrew says, and everyone obviously agrees.

We move through the halls. We've collected a map, and are honing in on the Administrator's office. I'm still unhappy that those men are still alive; however, something was off in that situation. I've never been that confrontational, especially not with Andrew, who I consider second only to Zeke and Blake as a friend. Something about this place… it has everyone on edge. I can feel it. The entire facility seems wrong. It stopped being human on the first level. The angles, the colors, even the sounds themselves are just… off.

The Administrator's office is the heart of the wrong feeling. I am repulsed by the door, instinctively afraid of what's behind it. We all share the same feeling of ominous dread as we walk towards that inconspicuous entrance. Blood is thumping in my ears, my heart is racing, and sweat beads on several of my companion's brows. There. Is. Something. Wrong. It defies all description, it's not Psionic, even with my limited experience I know that. It's a dark, primal fear that worms its way into your head. After what seems to be an eternity, we reach the door. Andrew engages the panel, and my breath catches in my throat as the door hisses slowly open.

It's pitch dark inside the room. Our CMC armor powers on, beams of light seeming ineffectual at cutting out the soul-grinding, all-consuming darkness of that place, illuminate an office space, one that seems average. That… feeling is still there, though The tingle at the back of my neck, someone walking on my grave. Is that… movement? In the corner of my eye? I swear I see… what's going on? I… its cold. Why do I feel cold? I can't see… there's nothing there. Only the darkness. I am small, and it is infinite. I am cold and alone. No one is there, nothing is there. And then… there is, and I am not.

* * *

Raynor oversees the movement of troops. The central Dominion base in the complex was destroyed by the Odin in its initial assault. The Dominion has been fighting hard to retain control of this area, though. He has had to micromanage quite a bit during this mission. Attacks would come in randomly, and in the least opportune of times. The Odin continually needs repairs, but has not broken down yet, much to his surprise. He had thought Tychus would have broken the thing by now. It has been useful though. It's smaller counterparts have been good as well. "Thors" they were called, and it is a fitting name. children of the Odin, and the "Gods of thunder". If he wasn't needed here, he might be out driving one of the things himself, although Raynor definitely prefers the maneuverability of a vulture bike to the power of a Thor. Of course, there are other concerns as well. Both Alpha, and Echo November have dropped out of contact. Alpha was investigating a bio-weapons lab, something that had some seriously perverted minds behind it. Echo November was trying to burn out a Dominion strongpoint back beside the first base. Both had gone dark simultaneously, and the Rescue teams were not responding either. He would worry about them later, though.

* * *

Raynor was done. The messages had been uploaded. Of course, he had lost three marine teams to Korhal. Epsilon Theta had gone after the two missing teams. What could have taken them all out? It's not good, and he will be remaining onworld to allow for rescue operations, or, if needed, operations to make sure no Data falls into the enemies hands after the squad's death. For now though, they are gone, and he would find out where they went.


	14. Chapter 14

**and the plot thickens. in this one, Julia is absent. I'll bring her back next chapter, or maybe the one after that. **

**Turtwig, thanks :) I scared myself while writing that scene at parts, that's when you know it's good. speculation is of course always good. thanks for your comment about the confrontation scene. that was another very interesting part for me to write. i'm on vacation now, so updates will likely be shorter and/or longer, although I enjoy this story and need something to do while in the car. **

**Read and Review. **

* * *

*** TOP SECRET, EYES ONLY BY ORDER OF ARCTURUS MENGSK. SECTION 5 ***

SUBJ. ALPHA DELIVERED TO CASTANAR FACILITY. OTHER SUBJ. DELIVERED TO TESTING. GENMOD TESTING TO COMMENSE IMMEDIATELY. INITIATE HEV GEN 5.4 ON SUBJ. B-M. INITIATE ON PATIENTS N-Z. COMMENDATION TO INSIDE AGENT ON THE ORDER OF 1.2 MIL. CREDITS DELIVERED. PROJ. HERCULES TO COMMENCE. ALL STAFF WILL BE TERMINATED UPON COMPLETION.

***END MESSAGE***

Raynor looks up after reading this. It was sent through a still-functioning bug in the computers that Alpha squad had set up. he comms Matt. "Matt, what do we have on Castanar?" he looks slightly startled at the question.

"Castanar? It's a beryllium storage facility." Raynor indicates the document.

"looks like there's something more there. They've sent "subject alpha" there for testing. The rest are still onworld, probably in the same facility they were raiding. I'm launching a rescue op on them, and then we move onto this Castanar place."

"Are you sure that's wise, sir? We've lost two teams to that place."

Raynor nods. "They think we're gone. Whoever this inside agent is, he's not back with us yet. We'll have a chance to get in undetected." Matt nods reluctantly. "Alright. I'll prep a team. We'll send Barren Zeta."

Matt nods. They're the strongest team they have left after Epsilon Theta, if not the most professional. "their mission will be different this time, the last team reported the danger was around the Administrator's office. We'll stay away from there for now."

Raynor chuckles "so long as we make sure they don't enter it trying to rob them blind, they should be fine."

* * *

Blaine Zenen and his squad were being sent in to help rescue some pansies who had managed to get themselves captured. Of course it was alpha squad, those show-offs were bound to get what was coming to them eventually, Them and those high-horsed holier-than-thou fools at Epsilon Theta. He snorts to himself briefly. Of course he was being sent in after them. He was the best. His squad was used to playing backup to him. He got a higher kill-count then the rest of those pretenders combined. Of course, for some reason his suit doesn't read that way, but he knows that's how it is. His man Rusty sets the charges, and the doors explode inwards. His team goes in shooting, not caring whether they hit civilians. There was loot to be had, and the dominion has more than enough. Of course, there is the main objective, but main is a very relative term to a man like Blaine.

"Alright boys, grab anything that ain't nailed down and keep moving." He laughs to himself then, this place is rich, all freaking sterile white and professional. Bah, this ain't real. Whatever, as long as he gets paid, and gets to take money, and do what he wants. They move through the halls, making no attempt to hide they are here. Firing off wild gunshots and shouting incoherently. Half the men are likely still, or newly drunk. That's good, they shoot better with a little drink in them, almost as good as one of those fancy ol' stimpacks. Finally, they reach one of the labs. Blaine kicks open the door, to show scientists frozen in the middle of their work. Blaine's fully automatic gun fires again and again, indiscriminately hitting experiment, scientist and equipment. He's in full battle mode, or full pillage mode as it were, and so decides spur-of-the-moment to turn on some victory music. Metal from the 21st century. None of these men have the IFF saying they are allies, which makes them target practice. They continue in this way for several minutes, and throughout several labs, their accounts growing conspicuously more full of credits as they move.

Finally, they reach one with IFF positives. He avoids them as he shoots down everyone else, laughing maniacally and blaring his music. When they're down, he finally calms down a bit, and looks around at the IFF positives. They're in experiment cages, growing new limbs and getting all kinds of zergified. He chuckles and lets them out. The former experiments all move quickly, picking up the weapons from the fallen guards. None are any worse for wear from what had been done to them. Which is good, because Blaine doesn't want to put up any whining over, 'poor me I have a third arm.' He doesn't know which squad these men, and women, seeing two or three feminine forms interspersed, belong to, and doesn't care. His motto is "so long as the pay's good." And it's gotten him out of a few tricky moral dilemmas.

His new help goes with him as he raids the rest of the facility. He finds some people locked up in resoc tanks, luckily, because the more people he brings back alive the more money he can extract for his masterful services, the conditioning hasn't taken yet, and he busts them out. Then he leaves the facility, and finally turns off the blaring music. That's when he notices that the building he just left is on fire. He wonders briefly when that happened, then dismisses it as unimportant as he remembers his fat paycheck. Mission accomplished, and richer, he loads into the Medevac and leaves, still humming the last tune.

* * *

Zeke's current mood can be described in very few words. "What Just Happened?" the Resoc he can understand, and he's glad to not be a lobotomized zombie, but… a marine who's more mercenary than most real mercenaries, who's blaring music as loud as his obviously non-regulation speakers can put it, and laughing as loudly as he can isn't the ideal rescuer. He's met up with just about everyone from his Squad, but not Julia. After they blacked out, they all woke up in the different predicaments they were found in. Andrew, Mark and Blake have been infested. They're the worst of the group. Luckily Julia's treatment is holding steady, and they're still Human in Mind, or HIM as they've begun calling it. He goes through the Medevac that he's in and confirms that Julia isn't in it. Where could she be? He hopes she wasn't left in the Facility, as it is on fire. He knows he should probably be more concerned about this, but he's in a bit of a whimsical mood, both as a lingering remnant of the attempted Resoc, and as a direct result of his abnormal rescuer.

Back at camp, which has been set up covertly after their base was returned to orbit, he confirms that Julia isn't here. That's not good. He's heard some of the rumors about her on the ship, all good now. But seriously, some people have started setting her up as some kind of divine figure. Someone apparently got a little too close to the edge of Infestation before being rescued, and is a little mind-damaged. He can't think of any other reason to set her up as a saint. She's nice and all that, but it's not like she's walked on water. There are very rational explanations to everything she's done. Of course, that doesn't stop the raving masses. If she was gone, then there would be people lining up on a crusade to bring her back. He shakes his head bemusedly, what is this sector coming to? A few weeks ago, if he had been told that his best friend, and, if he was honest with himself, hopefully eventually something more, would be Infested, then break free and proceed to break an entire planet free as well… he'd have called the insane asylum. This whole thing is crazy.

He walks to Raynor, who is surveying the refugees. "Raynor sir, she's not here."

He nods. "I know, we've got reports that "subject alpha" was being transported to a facility on Castanar. We're deploying as soon as we can get out of here." It takes some time to set up any transport onto or off of Korhal. He has to use legitimate transports at legitimate times, or else the Defense grid would blast them out of the sky. Luckily, he has procured several "fully legitimate cargo freighters". One of which had promptly been rechristened Serenity. Everyone packs up, and heads out, jumping from the Korhal system before rejoining the Rebel Battlecruiser. There is silence in the halls. The main objectives were completed, but at a heavy cost, several more people had been Infested, and the entire thing seemed rigged. That's when he realizes who else isn't in attendance, Dave. The mission reports had already been released, and they talked about a double agent. Zeke immediately felt sure that it was Dave. That slippery little cretin had it out for them ever since Julia came back. He wasn't sure what he'd said to Julia after he woke up from his injuries on Tarsonis, but she had seemed to trust him. Now he is gone, and so is she. Everyone is in dire need of sleep, unfortunately. The realities of travel being what there are, there's no way to reach Castanar tonight anyway. So he throws himself onto his bunk and falls asleep.

* * *

Raynor looks at the Ihan crystal, exhausted. Korhal was botched horribly, and they still have no idea how they were disabled, who the spy is, or what they'll find when they get to Castanar. All the groups had reported increased feelings of dread before their disablement, however. In almost all cases, it culminated in a feeling of "intense darkness and fear. Then nothing." Castanar, what is going on there? He sighs, and refocuses on the Ihan crystal. Nothing to be done about it tonight. He activates the crystal to see more of Zeratul's journey. He has a feeling that what he'll see today will have a very real and important impact upon tomorrow's events.

"Alright Zeratul, old buddy - you got your mysterious data. Now let's see what you make of it."

* * *

"my quest to decipher the Last Warning of the Xel'Naga led me to the Forbidden Archive world of Zhakul. Here, three immortal preservers guard ancient knowledge. Only they knew the cypher which would allow me to uncover the full meaning of the text I had recovered. I needed to seek them out quickly." Zeratul, with his allies, move into the abandoned structures that they had found on this world. The atmosphere is eerie. An air of fear laying heavy over the dark world. After some preliminary defenses are set up, one of the Zhakul guardians, inhabiting the shell of a stalker approaches the camp. It is wrong though, the metal used to construct it has been darkened, and it is lit with a strange green light. It quickly becomes evident that this Protoss, and likely the rest on this world, have been overcome by the same power which holds Kerrigan in its thrall. It has to be put down. then, an abomination, an amalgamation of Protoss and Zerg attributes awakens. The Preservers have been imprisoned by this horrifying being. This thing is a threat, and whenever he and his warriors beat it back, it just reforms itself around the energy of the Preservers.

The longer Zeratul stays, the more irrationally fearful he becomes. It's as if the Hybrid is influencing his thoughts, warping reality by its very presence. It may be, who knows what this false xel'naga is capable of. Nevertheless, he amasses an army of followers pulled in from Shakuras, and drives his way into its lair. He destroys the structures which are manufacturing equipment and refining minerals for these corrupted Protoss, and then breaks the crystals in which the Preservers are held.

When the Crystals are destroyed, the Hybrid falls to pieces, unable to maintain its form. With its dying words, it screams that it's master and father will know of its death. And that "He will hunt you through the stars. He will not allow anyone to interrupt His plans." When he is gone, though, the atmosphere of dread lifts, and the remaining dark Protoss flare suddenly and are purified, armor and skin returning to normal, and the sickly green light abandoning their skin.

The Preservers interpret the Cypher, decoding the warning of the Xel'Naga. Eventually, the head preserver comes to Zeratul. "we are finished. Come, and hear the last words of our Gods." He walks to a pool, where the three Preservers channel power. The surface ripples, and from within it a voice is heard, and a vision enters his mind. "we were the masters of the cosmos. The very stars bent to our will, but, we were betrayed from within, cast down by one of our own. He now plans to build himself up as an immortal, reforging the cycle after his own twisted machinations. Yet, there is hope still. If the Children of the cycle will overcome the darkness within them, and stand united, our Fallen Brother can be defeated. Heed this warning, our final children, for we leave now, and pass the Cycle, and your future, to you. Our brightest hope."

The Preservers look up from their meditations. Zeratul is unsure how he should take this revelation. His Gods are watching over him, even in death, but their message… to attain victory they must overcome the darkness within them and stand as one with the Zerg. The thought goes against everything he has felt. The Zerg are abominations, but they were created by the Xel'Naga. If it is what is required, he will do so. Zeratul looks up from his mental introspections. He comes to the conclusion that, if he is to stand with the Zerg to survive, then perhaps he may gin knowledge from the Homeworld. Aiur is in the grip of the Zerg, with the corpse of the overmind itself embedded in the surface. Such a great being does not die easily, and there may be fragments of Zerg consciousness within that may be useful in freeing Kerrigan from her mental enslavement. Knowing this, he departs the world, leaving the Preservers under the care of the redeemed Guardians.

* * *

Raynor inhales deeply as his mind disconnects from the Crystal. This threat is real, and is enough that Zeratul would overcome his hatred for Kerrigan to work with her. He's going to need help. Maybe the Revolution will be over by then, but either way, Raynor would commit his whole forces to that battle if Zeratul asks. This is getting big, and Raynor needs to know more before he moves.


	15. Chapter 15

**sorry for taking so long to update everyone, first it was the vacation, then I got hit by a bad case of procrastination. i'm back now, and hopefully over the procrastination. I hope I did a good job on this mission. read/review,**

**Izwan, yes the Kerrigan scene was changed up. first off, Amon is alive here, but he's not as powerful as portrayed in the games, more along the lines of a Xel'Naga from the time they were over Zerus, and the fledgling zerg destroyed their entire fleet. his real powers are in manipulation, such as what he is doing to Kerrigan. she's being mind controlled, I stated it in the vision with the lines "Zeratul recognizes the signs, her mind is being dominated, the Master manipulator is herself being played like an instrument." after what happened to Raszagal, he spent a lot of time investigating that type of thing, with the hope to make sure it doesn't happen to someone else, and she's acting like someone under the influence of a Dark Archon or similar construct. I'm sorry if I didn't make that clear enough, but that was my intention. as for your analysis about why he used the artifact, I agree in the Canon universe that's why he trusted the artifact. In this one, though, Amon isn't dead so he didn't need the device to resurrect himself. as such, the device's function is different, and it was made by the Xel'Naga. that's what This prophecy section is going to be about, along with discovering more about Amon himself, learning about the device the Raiders are constructing. he's not going to be flying as blind in this one. **

**I hope I live up to your expectations with this mission. I enjoyed it as well when I've played it. as for Dave, maybe, maybe not. unfortunately, the mission won't be done this time. I'm doing another one inside Castanar. **

**SolarisAce, "intrigued" hm... sounds good. I haven't read flashpoint unfortunately so I don't know who cooper is. what I meant by other subj. is other subjects, meaning the rest of the squad members that were captured. sorry for the confusion. **

**finally I just noticed what I wrote in chapter 14... wow I guess I was tired when I wrote that... shorter and/or longer... I meant longer in-between I think... anyway, on to the story. **

* * *

"The communication we recovered from the bio-lab on Korhal indicates that they have a secondary facility orbiting Castanar. They're holding Julia Daren there, and may be doing other experiments as well. Julia and Doctor Hanson's research allowed for the Haveners to be saved; based off of readings taken from her own infestation. We don't know what the Dominion wants with her, or what the rest of this bio-weapons lab is going to have, but it seems important enough for us to hit." Matt clicks off the recorder, and saves the mission brief before turning to Raynor. Raynor says "what's the scoop on this top-secret death lab?" matt answers "as I said, this asteroid is registered as a beryllium storage warehouse, but from the communications, that's just a cover for the lab." Raynor indicates his agreement. "Anything in those communications tell us what else they're doing in here?" Matt shakes his head. "No more than what we already know, but they did give us some administrator-level access codes. That should help us out immensely." "sounds like fun. Let's go bust her out."

The Castanar facility is an unremarkable thing from far away. Raynor is taking Alpha squad with him this time; after all, he is going on a rescue mission for one of their members. This is going to be their third mission in as many days, but they volunteered, and everyone else is just as tired. As soon as this mess is over though, they're going to take a nice long break before returning to duty. He lands, Matt making a joke about "Eugene" and the squad piles out, eight marines and two medics aside from him. Julia's normal spot on this team is being filled by Alexandria, a newly recruited Havener, what the infested from Haven are calling themselves, medic. At his nonverbal orders, the squad takes cover behind some cover near the back of the docking area, while Raynor moves forward to plant the first breaching charge. When it blows, alarms go off throughout the facility. He charges in, and with the squad, eliminates the marines and firebat stationed in front of the first computer console. The onboard adjutant powers on, and says "welcome, Administrator Decentes." He has a forged Identification, basically a targeted IFF which the adjutants can read. Combine that with the Administrator-level access codes he received from the transmissions, and any computer will think he is the administrator of the facility. Unfortunately, it doesn't work on flesh-and-blood infantry, as the disguise is broken as soon as it is realized he is male, while Analise Decentes is a stern looking greying woman. He activates the security camera to the next room, and then uses the codes to reprogram the IFF triggers in the turrets. He then activates them against the waiting guards. He takes a grim satisfaction as the trap backfires, and his men then walk into the next room, through a hallway where they encounter another few guards.

At his approach, the specimen tubes open, presenting themselves for "inspection" by the Administrator. The researchers still in this lab cower, although Raynor has no intention of killing them, for now at least. He turns his full attention to the creatures inside and starts. They're clearly Zerg, but… wrong. "These creatures… they ain't like any Zerg I've ever seen before. Matt, scan their bio-signatures." He complies, saying "hold on… the signal's weak in there. Well sir – I'm reading both Protoss and Zerg DNA, were those… things assimilated somehow?" Raynor shakes his head. "I don't know, but I'm real curious as to what they're doing inside a Dominion bio-lab." Then, he picks up on a communication from the next Security Checkpoint. "check it out! We've got Raynor and the escaped specimens trapped in lab one!" "Ha! Nice, release the Zerg!"

At that point, the large complex across from them opens, and Zerg creatures stream out of it. Alpha squad opens fire on them, while Raynor primes a breaching charge on the structure. His men's guns won't make a dent in the facility, but that might. He dodges a Hydralisk spine, then opens fire into the offending creature. It goes down, but then three zerglings leap at him, almost bowling him over. Lieutenant Cole fights them off him. All around, the men are being overwhelmed by the numbers of Zerg reinforcements. Raynor's rifle fires again and again into the mass. Finally, the detonation he was waiting for happens, and the Zerg are cut off. They finish the rest of the force off, Raynor taking down two more Zerglings. Their wounds are patched up by the two medics. Raynor applies a third detonation charge to the door, he's running low, just three more left. That's not good, there's a lot more facility left. It breaches the door. The marines who had locked them inside the lab looked at the door in shock, then Raynor fires his Gauss rifle, punching through one marine's armor while PFC Hopewell executes the other. He fights through a few more, and accesses the computer. He is able to release a variety of creatures into the next room, where they will be more than happy to get rid of the Dominion forces blocking his path. In addition, "subject Alpha" is listed as being in Cryo in the next room. He unleashes four Ultralisks, figuring that they will be a match for the troops inside. They are, and his squad rushes in to deal with the last Ultralisk afterwards. He lobs a grenade into the beasts maw, dropping it. He then moves to the Cryo chambers. Inside, are a few more of the things, and a thankfully unmodified Julia Daren. She is suspended in a light-blue liquid, and is clad only in her carapace covering. There's a locker nearby, in which there are several technicians outfits. Specialist Anthony moves to grab something for her, and Raynor hits the button to end cryogenic freezing, pulling her out of suspended animation.

* * *

I've really got to stop waking up like this. Once more, I find myself floating, suspended in liquid. Thankfully, my body is much more quick to respond this time, and I open my eyes to see my squad, as well as Raynor himself standing outside of the Cryogenic Chamber I'm in. I can't remember anything past entering the Administrator's room in that bio-lab. I flex my muscles, and prepare myself as the liquid drains from the chamber. I cough up the fluid in my lungs, and then jump out when the glass shield opens. My next shock comes when I see Blake. He's infested. It must have been those researchers back on Korhal. My blood boils as I think of it, if I had just killed them, then this whole thing wouldn't have happened. I'm very unhappy with this. Andrew… I sigh then, and shake myself from my introspections. I take the outfit from Blake's hands, and whisper a "sorry" to him. He nods, and doesn't speak yet. I pull on the Technicians outfit, and note my replacement. Alexandria's a havener, I remember her, Red-headed, and wiry, with a semi-amused look constantly on her face. She fell to Infestation as well.

"so, am I staying out for this mission?" I inquire. Raynor answers "well, we couldn't have your squad workin' at below capacity." Then he sets up a comm line to Matt Horner, "that creature in here, it looks like it's been mutated and cloned over and over. You got any additional info?" "Stettman and Hanson have been running some tests, sir. They say the specimens' DNA strands have been artificially spliced. That Decentes did this on purpose. "We're gonna blow this place sky high. They're creating Hybrids, no way we can just leave it standing." "well.. I'm picking up a strong power signature close to you. There must be a strong fusion reactor somewhere in the facility." Raynor indicates his agreement. "Julia, head back to the ship. We'll destroy the reactor, and meet you there." I shake my head, and grab a pistol from one of the Marine's holsters, it's not as big as my modified one, but that's good because I don't have the CMC armor to balance for the recoil. "with all due respect, sir, I'd rather come with you." "you sure? You don't have your armor out here." I gesture to myself. "I'm infested, built for fighting without it. I'll keep to cover, and make sure I don't get shot at." He relents, and nods. I'm glad, this facility is likely just as bad as the Korhal one, and I want to help any way I can to shut it down.

That settled, we move out, and I fall in beside Zeke and Blake. We fight our way through the facility; Raynor picks up an advanced "Plasma Gun" which can tear through heavier machinery like tissue paper. At the same station, I find an Assault rifle modified for non-CMC usage. I've been trained in these weapons, although I'm not a shot like Blake or Zeke. Altogether, it's definitely an improvement over the pea-shooter I had before. We keep moving, Raynor taking out the Vikings and siege tanks when he comes across them. Eventually, we reach another terminal. This one contains an IFF sensor for the A.R.E.S. mech. Raynor reverses it, so anything with a Dominion IFF is registered as hostile, while the Raiders are registered as friendlies. The Haveners, the marines infested in the lab and I register as Zerg, so he changes that to friendly as well. He powers it up with the anti-armor weapon system engaged. Now that we have a giant warbot on our side, the fight becomes much easier. Everyone is distracted by the giant death-machine, so there's not a single shot fired our way. I take out a couple of the enemies in the area, and we continue onward. The warbot's fuel lines were damaged by the attack, however, and it shuts down two minutes after the fighting in the cargo bay is done. After that, Raynor calls in Epsilon Theta squad to assist us. They're dropped off in the dropship, and we move deeper into the facility.

Inside the next room is a Brutalisk. The enormous thing towers over us, putting the Ultralisks we fought in the Brood War to shame. We clear out everyone except civilians, and Raynor accesses the diagnostic for the Brutalisk. It's contained, but apparently we can get some data from its DNA if we were to bring it down. Raynor, of course, decides to do just that. The energy field over it disappears and the restraints retract. We watch in horror as the thing moves ponderously from its prison, before eating a scientist. Raynor fires off the Plasma gun into the back of the thing's head. That gets its attention. And it moves in on us. Our Gauss rifles fire again and again at the thing, aiming for the head, but to very little effect. Raynor fires the plasma gun again and again, before switching to grenades. The thing goes down, its death roar toppling over some delicate looking equipment.

We breach the final door, inside is a fully-grown specimen like the things we've been passing. It is contained within a field, and appears dormant. We cut down the resistance here, and Raynor moves to a console. Using the Administrator access codes, he pulls open a video log between the real Administrator, and Arcturus Mengsk.

* * *

Mengsk, clad in his finery, is seen on one end of the conversation. He speaks first. "Decentes, what's the status of Project Harbinger?" the woman answers; her voice crisp and firm, "with the new arrivals we've picked up from the Haven system, Specimen three eighty one is showing signs of rudimentary autonomous neural activity. I don't know how the rebels got it to work, but it's solving all our problems with Swarm psychological control in our subjects. I would kill for a look at their initial subject." Mengsk answers "we'll get it to you, don't worry. And the rest?" "Well, splicing is going well. Those machines the good Doctor put together work wonders on genetics. Combining Protoss and Zerg genetic material, never thought I'd see the day… we now have over one hundred and fifty fully actualized subjects, although only three eighty one is growing to the size you listed in your requirements. Even cloning it isn't causing any more, if I had to guess, it's more a matter of chance then genetics." Mengsk nods. "keep up the good work, Administrator. These creatures will allow us, the Dominion, to do what no one else has. Tame not only the Zerg, but the Protoss as well. With them at our heels, we shall crush resistance in this sector, and see Humanity is made the most powerful force in the galaxy. You're doing something wonderful here, administrator. Your son would be proud." He then cuts the communication. Decentes stands for a moment, before her face falls, and she looks weary beyond her years. She then cuts her end as well.

* * *

They're using my research to create a Protoss/Zerg hybrid super soldier? The very concept is disgusting, and goes against all the ethics science is supposed to stand behind to stop abominations from coming to be. Apparently most people here agree with the sentiment. We move to the Fusion Reactor and Raynor primes a grenade, before tossing it into the open top, and we all run out of the Blast Radius.


	16. Chapter 16

**sorry about the delay, lots of stuff still going on. this is the second installment of Castanar, and will introduce new allies to the Raiders. **

**also, I've been looking through my past chapters and have noticed, with no little embarrassment, many spelling and grammatical errors, not to mention some involving the ranks within the military. I will be editing these out as I find them, but if there are any I miss, please point them out. this isn't beta read at the moment, and I would appreciate any and all constructive criticism. **

**on that note, thank you for yours, solaris. Dave is not onboard, he was not found with the rest of Alpha squad, Echo November squad, or Epsilon Theta. he's either a spy, or something else is going on. also, yes, this is in present tense, and that is a conscious decision by me. it's not Julia, or any of the other characters, looking back on what happened, it's being told as it's happening, the purpose of that is setting it apart from most other unpublished stories I write, which are always third person past tense. it's just kind of my way of trying a new writing style.**

**Read and Review, I should have those corrections out by the end of the day. **

**Update: I vastly underestimated the time it would take to update and revise everything I needed to. rest assured they are now complete. **

* * *

The grenade goes off, and the lights flicker as the Reactor Core goes into melt down. Immediately, the Adjutant shouts out a warning of "containment shield weakening, Protoss Zerg hybrid reviving." The scientists desperately try to keep it contained, but with the reactor down, there's no chance. It breaks away from its slumber, and a mental wave of despair enters into my mind. It is powerful, and the same feeling I got before blacking out on Korhal. With it comes a voice, not spoken with a mouth, nor heard with ears, but spoken in the manner of the Protoss.

"Ah, the Prodigal one is here. You are far from home, Prodigal. Return with us, we will keep you safe". A suggestion, implanted into the mind, has a way of growing, and I have to fight to keep it out. I think "No!" knowing it can hear me, and knowing that the psychological effect of the denial should strengthen my resolve. "young one, your family wants you. We shall care for you. Just come." The words once again have an inordinate feeling of trustworthiness and believability, and it takes all that I have not to fall into them. "Ah, you will not? A pity. Your Mother, the Promised would have wished to bring you back alive, after all, you are the first one to escape our hold. We always collect what is ours, Prodigal. You are ours, and we will have you, whether dead or alive is not specified." After it finishes speaking, it bursts its containment shell. The scientists and researchers desperately try to flee, but to no avail. The hybrid attacks and ravages them. While it is busy, we slip through a side door, while the complex begins to collapse.

"sir, you- have to be carefuuuu- the signaaal's war-r-r-rppping, bu—crit-t-t-er's breaki- -ace apar-! Who kn- u'll find d- ere." Matt Horner's distorted voice comes through the radio, telling us basically what we already know.

Raynor speaks into his radio, hoping that he can understand through the interference "Just what I wanted to hear. Thanks for the heads up." he clicks it off. "Stay tight on me! let's move Raiders!" Zerglings mill aimlessly through the area, when they spot us, they attack. Their attacks are easily warded off between Raynor and two elite squads of marines, nevertheless, there is some danger. Eventually we reach the ruins of the brutalisk chamber, and see the Hybrid trying to force its way through the rubble. Someone, I'm not sure who in all the chaos, yells "we can't take that thing down! Let's get out of here!" we then encounter a wall of debris of our own. Raynor powers up the plasma gun, and shoots it at the debris. It punches a hole through which we move one at a time into. Raynor finds some kind of a device labeled chrono-rift; it appears to generate a field which slows everything inside it down. He pockets it, hopefully it will be useful against the hybrid. We keep running down the hallway, and see something wonderful, a second warbot sitting pristine amongst the rubble. Raynor accesses the terminal nearby, powers up the anti-armor pods, and sends it against the rapidly closing hybrid.

Up a ramp and into a second chamber, we find more ammunition, and more troops. They are Dominion, Protoss and Zerg in a three-way clash. Our squads open fire on them, but, at Raynor's orders, avoid hitting the Protoss. Their leader greets Raynor "En taro Tassadar, friend Raynor. Thank you for releasing us from conf- Zerg!" he notices me and readies his blade.

Raynor grabs his arm to stop him, and says "hold on, now. She's on our side"

"Impossible! It is infested! Raynor, you must not let this thing into your confidence, it will corrupt you!"

"Have you heard of the Confederacy's failed experiments with infested? The ones that were meant to return sanity. This's like that. I'll explain more later, right now we've got to move!" by this time, the hybrid is once again at our heels, Raynor throws a chrono-rift device at it, slowing it down. We then take off at a sprint, and continue running until an explosion appears behind it, and it drops off our sensors. In the next room are dominion bio-experiments. Cocoons that contain miniature Ultralisks. They look like puppies, almost, with almost comically off proportions which indicate that they're not done growing. If they weren't trying to dismember us, they might have even looked kind of cute. Of course, eventually Mama comes out to play. Raynor brings the full-grown Ultralisk down with a couple of blasts from the now-empty plasma gun.

We exit the room, and jump when a detonation behind us echoes through the hallway. The Hybrid has exited a side chamber and is right on top of us. Raynor tosses a second chrono-rift at it, and it's movement is again slowed to a crawl. Not wasting the opportunity, we take off again. We encounter more of the miniature Ultralisk things, but we ignore them, racing for the door. Behind us, the Hybrid enters the room, and sucks the life from the unfortunate creatures. A dominion squad greets us outside, one of them saying "Evac! Everyone, get to the transport, let's move!" we kill the Zerg attacking them, and they drop their weapons in a sign of surrender. Zeke notes "looks like they have some common sense left". We, the Protoss, our squads of marines, and the captive Dominion troops, enter the transport. One of our men moves up to pilot, and we lift off. The hybrid reaches us, having finished off the small Ultralisks from the last room. It gives me a parting message, however.

"You have succeeded, for now. But do not believe this changes anything, prodigal. Your fate chases you, and it runs faster than you ever could."

On the transport, and away from the station, we turn our attention to the Dominion troops. Their leader's name is Nathanial Pierson. He and his men were colonial recruits who volunteered for service. They were stationed on the lab after an exemplary performance against the Zerg on the planet of Braxis. After its history in the brood war, the planet partially fell from the public view. The Zerg attempted to reclaim the world, however, and this man and his squad were among those responsible for it remaining in the dominion's hands. He was well decorated for his service, and sent to work on the Castanar laboratory. He claims to disagree with the project, especially their work on Terrans.

"I used to think that the dominion really stood for something. But between my own work at that… lab" he emphasizes the word, making it clear what he thinks of that designation, "and the broadcast you gave the Dominion recently, I'm not so sure. Unfortunately, the Dominion's not about to just accept my resignation, especially after what I have seen there. When I suggested it, my superior then suggested how many ways he knows to make a man disappear. Quite frankly, if you hadn't come when you did, I would have left anyway. And I think I speak for my entire squad when I say that working for you is a lot better than the alternative at this point." At that point, Raynor interrupts him.

"Look son, if you're asking for employment, you'll get it from me. But I ain't gonna force you into this. All my men are volunteers, and I'm not about to make an exception. You don't want in my revolution? We drop you off on an Umojan world and let you get on with your life."

He looks relieved, and more than a little surprised, at that, and says "thanks. It's been a while since I was given a choice… I guess I just expected that same philosophy from you. I think I will stay on, maybe do some good to make up for all the bad I didn't stop back at that lab."

The dominion transport, apparently a Hercules class cargo ship that was dropping off supplies at the time of the raid, docks inside the Hyperion's cargo hold. The marine squads leave to remove their armor, but the Protoss commander calls Raynor aside. He in turn calls me over. "how 'bout you give our Protoss friend here the rundown on what you've discovered." I nod, and begin talking.

"this all started back during the second invasion of Mar Sara, I was en route to the planet to help in the liberation, when my transport was attacked by the Zerg. One of them knocked me unconscious, and when I woke up, I was in a hive cluster orbiting char from an asteroid, infested. What was strange, though, was that everything but me appeared to have died, I'm still not entirely sure what caused that. I, at that time, was certain that I was under the control of the swarm, but as time passed, I became less and less sure, because I didn't feel any different. Anyway, I eventually decided to get off the rock, which was originally a Kel-Morian mining facility. I took a dropship, rendezvoused with the Raiders, and went through a battery of tests. Those, and later experimentation which I took part in as a researcher, confirmed that the Zerg virus is unable to breach the cell membranes of my nerve cells, basically making me immune to the mind-controlling elements of infestation. After that, Doctor Ariel Hanson, Egon Stettman and I collaborated in putting the parts of my genome responsible into a retrovirus which would cause immunity like mine. We succeeded, and the planet Haven is now under the control of sentient infested Terrans, who call themselves Haveners to show their distinction from the swarm. Unfortunately, this did not go over well with the Protoss, who were unwilling to believe that the virus would be cured. We had to fight off a portion of your fleet in order to deliver the cure. After that, many of their people joined in with us as a show of gratitude for what we did for them. We're still as Terran in mind as we were before the change."

As I speak, the Protoss, from what I can understand of his expression, turns from outrage, to disbelief, to doubt. When I am finished, he states "I will need to take a copy of those notes to Shakuras for verification. If it is true, we will try to use it as a method of combatting the Zerg while gaining an advantage of ourselves. Our greatest researchers have been attempting to solve this very problem since the Zerg were first discovered. Very well, Raynor, I will hold my judgment until I see for myself whether what you have said is true. Now, was there something else?" he asks, turning back to me. I remember my earlier encounter with the hybrid, and the fact that it spoke to me.

"yes, did you hear any of what the Hybrid in that lab was saying?"

He nods. "it was insulting me, calling me a coward, and challenging me to face it like a true warrior. Why? Is that not what you heard?"

"No." I say, somewhat surprised, although that is quickly discarded. Why wouldn't it be talking to everyone else psionically? "it was calling me back to the swarm. It referred to me as "prodigal", and appeared to be attempting to use some level of suggestion to get me to comply with what it was saying."

"Intriguing. You have given me much to think on. I will return to my fellow warriors, now. We have much to discuss." He walks back to his men, and I go to get changed, and hopefully relax a little. Yep, no more biological impossibilities, firefights, or much of anything else for the next few days. I chuckle, knowing that it's not going to happen, but it's nice to dream.

* * *

"What a mission. Ever since that one on Xil it's been nonstop movement… of course, that was our choice, but still…" Zeke lets it trail off. We're all back in our barracks. Zeke, Blake and I are sitting at a table, talking. "we fight our way through a lab to rescue our great damsel in distress here, and end up running from the dragon. Between that and the fact half our squad's Zerg now… too soon?" Blake winces and nods. Surprisingly, infestation looks good on him; armor plating and larger, better toned muscles make an even more impressive form than he had before the change. As with all HIM infested, he lacks the outgrowths common to previous generations, instead improving upon the base human design. His face is clear, but surrounded by armor plating. "it's like something out of one of those crappy Sci-Fi vids they put on late at night when everyone is too tired to realize what they're watching has been tweaked slightly from its last form, and republished with flashy graphics. If there's some kind of true ancient end-of-days prophecy coming, I'm turning in my gun and becoming a monk, seriously."

We all chuckle a little at that image, and I say "you becoming a monk is about as feasible, given your personality, as two Protoss French-kissing."

He sputters in mock-outrage. "I'll have you know that my becoming a monk is at least twice as unlikely! Now, if I remember correctly, we still have a matter of honor to decide."

Slightly confused, Blake responds "we do?" Zeke nods in solemnity, which is only slightly overdone.

"Julia and her fiendish Rentoth has made several heinous assaults upon the Terran Sovereignty, these assaults shall not go unpunished so long as I am commander, and I call upon my ally, the Xori, to stand with humanity in its hour of need against these brazen foes."

Blake nods, "I stand with you".

My response to this outrageous claim is simple. "We of the Rentoth Ascendancy are not without allies. The Celan will come to my aid." I claim a Virtual ally.

* * *

Raynor is furious. Mengsk has gotten too greedy with his power. Nothing he has done to this point, except for the Butchering of Tarsonis comes close to the danger inherent in the creations he is working in this lab. This revelation spurs him to the Laboratory, and he roughly activates the crystal, almost overbalancing it in his anger.

* * *

Aiur, home world of the Protoss. Fallen jewel of the galaxy. Paradise, his people called it. Well, paradise burns now. Zeratul stands on the bridge of his ship, commanding a great number of ships. He looks at Aiur in despair, knowing what has happened to the world can, in some measure, be blamed upon him alone. One of the workers on the ship moves up to him, and hands him a report. "all battle groups in position, Prelate Zeratul we will begin the attack to reclaim our home world on your order". Zeratul steps up to the communications center, feeling the import of the moment.

"All battle groups, Engage the Zerg defenses. The Liberation begins Today! EN TARO TASSADAR!" void ray beams align on the greater Zerg, tearing through their armor. Phoenixes and scouts engage in dogfights with corrupters and mutalisks. The Shield of Aiur focuses fire upon one of the Leviathans, ripping through it. The beam causes depressurization of the hull, and the massive beast dies in fire. Carriers release interceptor swarms to counter scourge. Detonations rock the upper atmosphere. "On my mark, Deploy troop carriers!" Zeratul speaks. They have broken the Zerg aerial defense, now comes the ground war.

The Void Seeker arrives at Antioch Ruins. Some of the structures still active. The Forward base for reclamation has been set up on this historic site. The reclamation of Aiur is going well. Some of the Protoss believe that they should not be overextending themselves like this, Zeratul knows better. This will be a monumental victory, if it is accomplished. Untold caches of technology exist upon Aiur, Protoss refugees still exist onworld, and that is not even counting the morale booster that comes from the successful reclamation of their home, all of which are things which will be needed in the coming war. Attacking now is the only option. He cannot afford this Amon and the Zerg to join forces, and if the Zerg do trade sides as the Xel'Naga believe, the loss of a single world will do little one way or the other, so he mobilized all of his political pull, his own vast resource network, and moved proverbial mountains within the hierarchy to gain support for the invasion. They had initially contacted the observers stationed on Aiur to give a report as to the Zerg's numbers. It appears that Kerrigan never got around to reclaiming this brood, and it is mostly feral. That is what allowed the invasion to be pulled off so well. He worries somewhat that he may be pulling his people into a trap, but he has prepared as much as he can. Protoss warriors run to and fro, holding key positions against the Zerg, moving supplies and setting up. Zeratul leaves his ship, and is immediately accosted by people who require him for various tasks.

* * *

Antioch Reclamation Point has been established fully, photon cannons are holding off the Zerg advance, giving the living warriors time to rest. similar points have been established across all five of Aiur's continents. The Golden armada holds Aiur's skys, but cannot descend into low orbit for fear of the Zerg Anti-ship weaponry. That's what these reclamation points are for. Zeratul is looking over a report on troop positions when something else grabs hiss attention. They have reclaimed the Reaver manufacturing facilities. Those had been lost in the evacuation, along with many other pieces of technology. They will be a boon in the coming months. In addition, contact has been made with deep-sea bases which were left virtually untouched in the war. Those uncovered ancient technology in the form of monstrous walkers, sealed away during the Aeon of strife. These autonomous warriors immediately went to the aid of failing Protoss forces, reinforcing lines and dealing massive amounts of damage. With the base secured, he can move forward on his second, more secretive reason for coming to this world. Moving in the dead of night, taking his most trusted dark Templar to aid him he approaches the corpse of his enemy. The rotting mass of the overmind lays silent, but around it a hub of Zerg activity is seen. Zeratul moves forward to access the thing's Neural Cortex, but is stopped when a shimmer of white energy is seen. The level of radiance increases, and coalesces into the shape of a Protoss, one Zeratul recognizes. "Tassadar?"


End file.
